Susannahs Garden Original/E

by Debbie Macomber

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0778316327
• ISBN13: 9780778316329
• Release Date: June 2014
• Publisher: Mira Books
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.4" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Blossom Street

I bought all boots in this series and loved every one I recommend this for any reader it is good clean read

Easy Read...very Realistic

I deal with the aging population, an aging mother, and love gardening which is why I was immedialtly drawn to this book. Very realistic and heartwarming. Susannah finds herself "sandwiched" in between her aging mother and her young inexpirenced daughter who knows it all. She tried to deal with the emotions alone of moving her mother into assisted living, feelings she had with her father who dies before she had dealt with unresolved issues from her own childhood, and her daughter also who is dealing with some similar issues. Susannah re-developes friendships from her childhood, discovers "lost" love and respect for her parents. I felt the ending was done very quickly and could have been finished with a little more information as she had given throughout the book.

Hated to see it end.

This book could have gone on forever and I wouldn't have minded. Susannah has been married for twenty-five years and is happy with her husband and two kids. So why is she dreaming of a boyfriend from long ago? She thought her dad was against her all those years. She gets a phone call from her mother's maid, who says her mom seems to be a bit confused and thinks Susannah should come and visit earlier than planned. So she travels from Seattle to Colville, also hoping to meet up with the long lost boyfriend, Jake. She gets her mother to finally move into an assisted living facility, and is packing all her parent's stuff up in hopes of selling soon. Her daughter arrives without notice and says she wants to help her mom and also be there for her grandmother. In the meantime, she meets a "bad boy". Now Susannah knows how her parents felt when she was in love with Jake. Susannah starts to feel as if someone has been in the house a few times and taken belongings of her parents' and her dead older brother, Doug. Mysteries unvail and Susannah figures out what her husband means to her. This book will go by so quick, you won't want it to end. I for one, hope there is another one coming!

A pleasurably engrossing read

Susannah Nelson, aged 50, is vaguely unsettled despite her tranquil home and long-term successful marriage to husband Joe. Why is she suddenly dreaming about Jake, her high school sweetheart? She hopes that her summer vacation, with its respite from her teaching career, will help return her perspective on her life. Joe suspects that Susannah's recent pensive mood is actually depression, stemming from her father's November death. Susannah is equally certain that that is not the problem, given the strained relationship she shared with her father. She concedes that maybe her father's death started her thinking of Jake again, since he probably played a part in breaking them up. Now she longs for closure of that long-ago relationship with Jake and the sudden ending that has always mystified her. Susannah is distracted from her problems when she learns that her elderly mother, Vivian, who is back in Susannah's home town, is having problems. Vivian accuses her longtime housekeeper of stealing from her. She is forgetful, has gotten lost while wandering, is losing weight, and no longer has a social life. Vivian insists she has seen her husband, even though she realizes he is dead. Susannah decides to go stay with her mother, planning to settle her into an assisted-living community. She's also hoping for the opportunity to talk to Jake. She feels driven to find out the truth behind their breakup so she can put an end to her fantasies about him. Meanwhile, Susannah and Joe's daughter Chrissie dreads leaving college to spend the summer with her parents --- especially her critical mother. Chrissie also dreads the separation from her perfect boyfriend, while knowing that something feels wrong between the two of them. After spending time with her mother, Susannah realizes that she is in worse condition than she'd feared. She's glad she has reconnected with her childhood friend Carolyn, who proves to be as easy to confide in as ever. Carolyn, now running her family's lumber mill, is equally thrilled to have a friend re-enter her life, enabling her to disclose the burgeoning attraction she feels to her gardener. When Vivian finally agrees to move to an assisted-living apartment, Susannah's job isn't finished. She must sort and dispose of her parents' lifetime accumulation and clean the house in order to sell or rent it out. She must also deal with her own guilt and sorrow. Her burden is increased when Chrissie arrives to "help" her mother pack up Vivian's home, and lands in a relationship with a man who is every mother's nightmare. An intriguing mystery surrounding Susannah's deceased brother develops, clue by tantalizing clue. Why is her father not buried with his only son? Who leaves flowers on Doug's grave? Is it the same person who breaks into Vivian's house and steals his high school mementos? Could it be that nothing --- and no one --- connected to Susannah's past is as she remembers? It's clear that Debbie Macomber cares deeply about her fully-reali

Lovely and Heartwarming - Family and Relationships

When she was eighteen, Susannah Nelson was sent abroad to school. In what she saw as her fathers attempt in dictating her life it effectively separated her from her boyfriend Jake, and she never got to see her brother Doug again who was killed that summer in an automobile accident. After a few short letters, Susanna never heard from or saw Jake and though it hurt at the time, she later met, married a fine man, and raised a family. ----- Now her children are just about grown, she's hitting midlife, and Susannah's marriage seemed stale as her thoughts continually seemed to focus on what `could have been' if her father hadn't interfered in her life and romance with Jake. With her father recently passed on, she had been summoned home sooner than she'd planned when alerted by neighbors and friends that her widowed mother was having difficulties dealing with her loss and living alone. Back in the house and town she'd grown up in Susanna would have to deal with her mother's increasing aging problems, and make some tough decisions regarding her care. Additionally, she would she face the past, discovering new insights into her troubled relationship with her dad, and dealing with a similar issue concerning her rebellious nineteen year old daughter. ----- With girlhood memories resurfacing along with long lost friends, Susannah discovered secrets that revealed not only an unselfish act of love, caring, and protection, but a surprising revelation of a mysterious presence once thought to be a figment of her mothers failing mind. ------ *** What a wonderful read! Macomber writes with heartbreaking realism when dealing with the decisions and choices made in friends and family relationships. She offers beautifully written prose that packs a mountain of emotion into every chapter. Through laughter and through tears, she nails relationships with astounding realism and understanding in this well-paced and heartwarming story, once again solidifying Macomber as a leader in fine woman's literature. Marilyn Rondeau - RIO, Reviewers International Organization

Susannah's Garden - Another Debbie Macomber Hit - A Must Read

Debbie Macomber keeps getting better and better. This book has so much depth. I liked it as much if not better than The House on Blossom Street and A Good Yarn - and I absolutely loved those books. Debbie writes such wonderful books that really touch your heart. Susannah's Garden: Susannah is 50 years old, married with 2 children but is wondering about the paths not taken. She has been having dreams about her first love, Jake, even though she has a loving husband and it has been 30 years since she has seen or heard from Jake. She plans a trip to her hometown in Washington to visit her mother, see friends and try to find what happened to Jake. At 18, Susannah's parents had sent her abroad and she lost touch with Jake, and never saw her beloved brother again as he died in an accident while she was away. While on her journey, Susannah finds things are not always as they seemed, including the poor relationship she had with her father. Debbie ties everything very nicely together in this must read book.