The Garden of Small Beginningsby Abbi Waxman
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9780751564860
Publication Date: February 27, 2018
Pages: 349
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Little Brown Book Group
In the three years since her husband died in a car accident, Lili has just about managed to resume her day-to-day life as a single mother and successful illustrator. She can now get her two girls to school, show up to work and watch TV like a pro. But there's still the small problem of the aching loss she feels inside.
When she's commissioned to illustrate a series of horticultural books, and signs up to a weekly gardening class, finally her life starts to bloom again.
The class provides Lili with a new network of unexpected friends - friends with their own heartaches and problems - and, maybe, another chance at love . . .
Ok, the second half of the book, while still hilarious became too predictable for me to rate this any higher than 4 stars, but it was still a very good story, with a writing style that is totally in my wheelhouse, with banter between the sisters that I found hilarious, and just an overall humorous voice to the narrative.
That’s not to say, however, that the story is pure fluff. On the contrary the MC is deeply grieving her husband’s not-really-recent death and her healing process is pretty raw and painful to read about. The predictability comes into play when she’s faced with someone she finds attractive, and the manipulative ability of her kids (although, as fictional kids go, these two were really likeable – especially the youngest) to mess with her recovery. A few scenes were uneven, but for the most part this was just a thoroughly fun read, with a beginners gardening class providing a focus for the story that added to my enjoyment.
I’m definitely going to check out what else, if anything, Abbi Waxman has written.