The French Gardener by Santa Montefiore
Synopsis:
A neglected garden. A cottage that holds a secret. A mysterious and handsome Frenchman. Prepare to be “spellbound by the sheer charm” of Santa Montefiore’s tender and powerful novel about passion, loss, and the healing power of love.
It begins as Miranda and David Claybourne move into a country house with a once-beautiful garden. But reality turns out to be very different from their dream. Soon the latent unhappiness in the family begins to come to the surface, isolating each family member in a bubble of resentment and loneliness.
Then an enigmatic Frenchman arrives on their doorstep. With the wisdom of nature, he slowly begins to heal the past and the present. But who is he? When Miranda reads about his past in a diary she finds in the cottage by the garden, the whole family learns that a garden, like love itself, can restore the human spirit, not just season after season, but generation after generation.
Wise and winsome, poignant and powerfully moving, The French Gardener is a contemporary story told with an old-fashioned sensibility steeped in the importance of family and the magical power of love.
“She was an original ... She was an eccentric. She'd come alive like a fire, telling funny stories and entertaining everyone, then she'd suddenly run out of fuel, make her excuses and leave. You always knew when she'd had enough. Those that didn't would find themselves talk to the walls.”
As wonderful and as sensually charming as a garden itself, this book is about the power of change. Two stories run parallel in this gripping book, one of the past and one of the present. As the past meets the present in heart-breaking ways, it brings the reader to understand the power of nature’s beauty and the power of love’s compassion.
A troubled couple, Miranda and David, move with their family into a country estate. Its overgrown gardens, formerly famed for its considerable beauty, and its tiny abandoned cottage is enchanting but uninteresting to the city born and breed family. A mysterious Frenchman shows up just when Miranda and David decided to employ a gardener. He not only brings back the gardens to the greatness of their past, but he heals his past while providing a future to Miranda’s family. Wonderfully composed, this book will leave you with hope and tenderness, and maybe a little in affection with the French gardener. Anyone who has experienced village life for themselves and or loves gardening will appreciate how Santa Montefiore has captured the essence of the characters and their surroundings.
This is a well written profound tale in which the garden serves as a metaphor of life. It separates the storyline into the four seasons with the garden different each time as is a person through the years. This book is moving because of the wise aging title character who reflects to the spring of his life so that the audience understands what passed to him and his love. Fans will appreciate Jean Paul’s wisdom as it is never too late to hug a loved one even if the person you love has passed; the good memories provide effective mental hugs.
My Rating:
✬✬✬✬✬
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