In Praise Of Lilith, Eve And The Serpent In The Garden Of Eden And Other Stories by Susan Scott

In Praise Of Lilith, Eve And The Serpent In The Garden Of Eden And Other Stories by Susan Scott

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book comes in the form of a series of essays which look deeply into author Susan Scott’s life and how she feels about herself and the power of womankind. It will take you on the highs and lows of some of the basic meanings of life and even goes beyond the veil in the world of dreams.

I particularly enjoyed the essay about Susan’s garden, finding a new treasure, nurturing the life and finding the reflection on life by clearing away the rubbish. In fact it inspired me to get up and go and clean my own house from top to bottom and then start on my own garden. And yes it felt really good afterwards.

I also liked the story about picking up rubbish on the beach. I too pick up litter and I understood where Susan was coming from in her belief that people have lost their connection to all that is nature.

The Essay about Lilith , Eve and the serpent in the garden taught me much about blame, rejection and repression and how these feelings become banished emotions within us but bubble to the surface in all sorts of illnesses unless we learn to deal with them.

There was also much to ponder and face in the essay about dreams. Looking deeply at the symbols and finding a balance in our lives. The last essay is about a momentous trip to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and we follow Susan and her fellow climbers through pain and hardship as they complete the trip and reflect on what it meant to them.

When reading this book I went though many sets of emotions, I was inspired, lost and humbled. It’s not an easy read at times, but I think it will affect each reader in a very different way.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Susan is our guest author tomorrow, do come back and find out more about her and her writing.

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Forgotten Garden features the most delightful magical garden in a coastal cottage in Cornwall. Spanning generations the garden means different things to the different characters. This book is about finding answers and peace, it spreads across the world and back again in its duration.

The first location is London 1913, we meet a stow-away on a boat and hear about the lady known as The Authoress. Next we go to Brisbane, Australia, 1930 and a birthday celebration for Nell. Her father decides to reveal the truth about her parentage. The information sets Nell on a journey to find her real parents, and it’s one that her grand-daughter Cassandra continues after Nell’s death.

A central character to the book is Eliza Makepeace and her book of Fairy Tales, many of which are included in the story. Her surname could well summarise the book in one word. The story, extends over a century, has many twists and turns, revealing what love and loyalty mean to the different people.

A long book at over 600 pages, but one I really enjoyed.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads.

Greening of A Heart by Stepheny Houghtlin

Greening of a Heart by Stepheny Houghtlin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Greening of a Heart is a delightful tale of journeys of discovery for many of the characters. The story is set in Burford which sits in the Cotswolds in England. I know the place myself, there is a lovely street lined with buildings made of the delightful pale yellow Cotswold stone, an absolute tourist delight.

Hannah Winchester is the wife of the Vicar of Burford, they live next to the Norman church and have a wonderful garden designed by Robert Myers, a nineteenth century Vicar who once lived there. Hannah wants to return the gardens to their former glory and in so doing finds herself on her own road to discovery. Its going to be a bumpy road, Hannah and Martin are going through a bad patch in their marriage and Martin is struggling with his role as husband and vicar. The Bishop insists that Martin travels to Jerusalem to St George’s College on his own pilgrimage to save himself and those around him.

We meet the delightful Henry Bernard, a gardener from Kew who is researching clerical gardens as well as his own past. He has applied for a job to help Hannah with her garden. There is Christine, Hannah’s neighbour, who has her own reasons for disapproving of Hannah’s garden plans, plus a whole basket of freshly prepared characters waiting in the wings to give you a mouth-watering taste of English plants, gardens and rural village life.

The book is about finding yourself, believing in what you do and living your dream, a gentle easy read and one to put a smile on your face.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Stepheny returns to the blog tomorrow for a guest author interview.

Butterfly Summer by Anne-Marie Conway

Book Review

Please give a warm welcome to my third young book reviewer, Jenny, to the blog with her first book review for us. Thank you Jenny.

 

Butterfly Summer- Anne-Marie Conway

Rating: 4/5

Becky’s life was simple before, but after moving back to Oakridge, everything got complicated. One old photo and her life comes crashing down. The only place, she can forget her worries is in Butterfly Garden with her new friend Rosa May. Relaxing in the Butterfly Garden for the whole summer sounds great to Becky, until she realises that even Rosa May has secrets.

With an intriguing plot that grips you the whole way through, Butterfly Summer is a great read. I loved the way Anne-Marie has described the emotions of the characters, especially Becky and her mum. It was cleverly written and I saw the characters develop throughout the book.

Find this book on Amazon.co.uk