Acquired via BookCrossing 21 Oct 2009 - from Gill

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 this one (oh - it's called Susannah's Garden in the US in case anyone thinks it's a different book!) but I enjoyed the usual multi-generational family relationships, the strong women characters and the celebration of marriage.

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... ( )

Debbie Macomber enthralls the reader, yet again, with an intricate heart warming story. Susannah Nelson needs to return to her childhood home to take care of things for her elderly mother, Vivian. Once there Susannah is faced with the decision of what is best for her mother and desire for answers of events in her past. In a relentless search Susannah discovers lost truths about her family and herself. Learning that you can go home again and that she has exactly what she's always wanted and needed. ( )

When Susannah Nelson turned eighteen her parents sent her to France to school and she found herself adrift. She also lost her boyfriend and brother that year, one disappeared and the other died. She never felt that she had properly mourned either.

Now she's married, with children and her mother isn't well, her father is dead and she has to try to pack up after their lives. She comes to terms with some of the issues from her past and finds out things about herself that she hadn't realised.

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. ( )

I read this one to get some background on Susannah, who may be showing up in "Back on Blossom Street". Compared to the ensemble-cast books of Blossom Street, this one was nowhere near as interesting. Although Macomber spends a little bit of time on Susannah's best friend, Carolyn, and her daughter, Chrissie, most of the story is devoted to Susannah and her search for answers about her late father, her late brother, and her missing high school boyfriend. The pace suffered from having too many directions and too many leads to follow; I wasn't impressed with this one. ( )

This book was ok. Filled time. ( )