Amazon.com
First-time author Lisa Wingate drew upon her relationship with her grandmother for inspiration in writing Tending Roses. Her sensitive and able crafting of language, character, and situation pierces through the turmoil and stress of everyday life, illuminating its message with almost painful intensity: "Maybe you should start wanting less." Wingate's words resonate as readers are introduced to Kate Bowman, her architect husband Ben, and their infant son. Kate, on maternity leave from her high-profile Chicago job, has been given the unenviable task of convincing her increasingly frail and forgetful grandmother that she can no longer live alone on the Missouri farm that has been her home for almost half a century. Kate and Ben are struggling to deal with mounting debts and medical bills as they strive to build a lifestyle, rather than a life. Frustrated by dealing with her stubborn, if well-meaning, grandmother, Kate finds solace and clarity in Grandma Rose's handwritten journal. The simple stories of earlier, less complicated times renew Kate's understanding of the truly important things in life. Through the journal, Kate discovers the essence of the remarkable Grandma Rose and is forced to reevaluate her priorities and those of her family.
Simply put, Wingate's aim is to exhort readers to "stop and smell the roses." The daily race to achieve and have more, more, more is clearly and all-too-accurately portrayed in these pages. I guarantee readers will stop to think of their own lives and where they are spending their energies. Let's hope Lisa Wingate has other relatives as inspiring as Grandma Rose for future novels. --Alison Trinkle
From Booklist
Christmas is going to be difficult for Kate Bowman this year. Traveling with her husband and infant to the family farm in Missouri, she has the unpleasant task of convincing her 89-year-old Grandma Rose to move to a nursing home. Kate hasn't been back for six years and is dreading the confrontation with Grandma as well as the first family reunion since the death of her mother. But Grandma Rose makes things easier by leaving her journal out for Kate to read, enabling her granddaughter to realize just how much more there is to Rose than she thought and how very important the farm is to her. This helps Kate find her way through her financial and emotional problems and cues her to what's truly really important in life. Wingate's touching story of love and faith proves the old adage that we should take time to smell the roses and try to put our modern problems in perspective. Patty Engelmann
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Booklist
A touching story of love and faith.
Luanne Rice, New York Times bestselling author
A story at once gente and powerful...richly emotional and spiritual
Book Description
While living in a remote Missouri farmhouse-and struggling to care for her husband, baby, and aging grandmother-Kate Bowman finds inspiration in the pages of her grandmother's handmade journal...
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