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Fiction. Romance. HTML: It was the year that changed everything. When Susannah Nelson turned eighteen, she said goodbye to her boyfriend, Jake--and never saw him again. She never saw her brother again, either. Doug died in a car accident that same year. Now, at fifty, she finds herself regretting the paths not taken. Long married, a mother and a teacher, she should be happy. But she feels there's something missing in her life, although she doesn't know exactly what. Not only that, she's balancing the demands of an aging mother and a temperamental twenty-year-old daughter. Her mother, Vivan, a recent widow, is having difficulty coping and living alone, so Susannah goes home to Colville, Washington. In returning to her parents' house, her girlhood friends and the garden she's always loved, she also returns to the past--and the choices she made back then. What she discovers is that things are not as they once seemed. Some paths are dead ends. But some gardens remain beautiful.....… (more)
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Now she's married, with children and her mother
It's a pretty typical Debbie Macomber, it falls into the world of her Shop on Blossom street series. You learn a lot about Susannah and her past and her issues. This title was published as Susannah's Garden in the US and Old Boyfriends in the UK.
This was one of the comforting books Gill waved under my nose at the Cafe one Sunday when I was in the middle of a big worrying time. I was allowed to read these out of order of acquisition, when the mood took me...
It took a little while to get into
Susannah feels trapped in her job, her marriage, and now between the demands of her 19 year old daughter and elderly, ailing mother. The need to go across State to care for her mother gives her an opportunity to look up an old boyfriend... who looms large and romantic in her imagination. Meanwhile, her mum keeps "seeing" her dead husband George, and her daughter starts to make the same mistake choosing between a man and her family that Susannah once made herself.
I *did* read this out of order, as when I came to choose a book the other day, I only had mysteries and other books I didn't really want to read over dinner. Finished this in the company of a hot bath and Mr Radox (was careful with it) after a day that started with a 9 mile run.
This is loosely part of the Blossom Street series, so I will see if the "usual suspects" want a read of it...
"Susannah's Garden" is a nicely done novel. Author Debbie Macomber focuses mostly on Susannah with some chapters focusing on Vivian and Carolyn. Vivian's story is the most heartbreaking as she mourns her husband and is also becoming very forgetful. Anyone who has had to deal with elderly parents or grandparents will emphasize with Susannah as she struggles to do what is right for her mother. I had less sympathy for Susannah as she risked her marriage looking for Jake, even to the point of hiring a private investigator to find him. Her relationship with her daughter Chrissie is very well done even if Macomber basically repeats the Susannah-Jake plot line with the Chrissie-Troy romance. Carolyn is a nicely developed character and is involved in a nicely done twist at the end of the book. Unfortunately, while the women are well written the men aren't - Susannah's husband Joe has the patience of a saint while Susannah looks for Jake, I wish he had shown some backbone.
"Susannah's Garden" is a light, pleasant read - a perfect beach book.
Susannah’s mother, Vivian seems to be losing her memory about 6 months after Susannah’s father died. Susannah hadn’t been home much as she wasn’t close to her father. But, she needs to go home to try to convince her mother to move to assisted living. Susannah’s 20-year old
It wasn’t fast moving, and I would have rated it good, anyway, but I upped the rating by a 1/4 star for a couple of the twists at the end of the book. I did like this. I preferred the storyline between Susannah and her mother over Susannah and Chrissie; Chrissie seemed more like a drama-queen teenager than an adult. Susannah met up with other friends from high school, as well, and I wasn’t a fan of her friend Carolyn’s romance, as it seemed out of place, but it did end up tying in at the end, as well.
Read slightly out of sequence - it's not a "true" Blossom Street story, but introduces characters
Susannah (this is known as "Susannah's Garden" in the US) is a 50 year old woman, married with two kids, who has just finished another year teaching and is feeling restless and depressed. Her ageing mother is a source of concern, and she travels back to her home town to make some difficult decisions, including searching for her Old Boyfriend Jake
here's a couple of situations that seem to be purely plot devices - the girl's night out anyone? - and it was a little predictable, but on the whole this is an enjoyable story story that adds to the Blossom Street canon