The Scent of Lilacs

by Ann H. Gabhart

Book Overview

Before Ann H. Gabhart became well-known for her much-loved Shaker novels, she wrote three poignant novels centered on the loveable Jocie Brooke and her family, who lived in 1960s small-town Kentucky. Once named as one of Booklist 's Top Ten Christian Novels and now featuring a brand new cover, Scent of Lilacs is poised to capture the hearts of new readers everywhere. Life-changing events rarely happen here, and when they do, they are few and far between...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0800730801
• ISBN13: 9780800730802
• Release Date: May 2005
• Publisher: Fleming H. Revell Company
• Length: 345 Pages
• Weight: 0.71 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.6"
• Age Range: 18 years and up

Customer Reviews

What a wonderful book!!!

The Scent of Lilacs is a story that grabbed and pulled at my heart from the beginning to the end. A story full of dreams, hopes, devotion, laughter, and sweet romance. A story soaked with tears, regret, abandonment, and grief. But through all the secrets, plot-twists, and curves thrown the characters way is the constant theme of faith and forgiveness. I genuinely recommend The Scent of Lilacs for a relaxing "summer read". WARNING: Clear your schedule, pour your favorite drink, and settle in your cozy chair! Once you start this book, you will not want to put it down!!!

And the truth will set you free

Sometimes the truth is the last thing we want to hear. In this book, thirteen year-old Jocie stumbles upon one family secret after another. There is however, one truth that she's not sure she wants to hear, a truth that might forever change her relationship with the person that has always been there for her: her father. Her mother left them years ago taking Jocie's sister,Tabitha, with her. She calls herself Dee Dee now, and has been in one unsuccessful relationship after another after leaving David, her preacher husband. The plot comes to a climax when Tabitha comes home pregnant, causing Jocie and David to think about the past. The book is full of colorful characters. There is Zella, the snoopy secretary at the Banner newspaper office; Wes, a motorcycle riding confidant of Jocie's who says he's from Jupiter and who Zella says has surely been running from the law; and Sallie, the observant senior street singer and beggar of Hollyhill, who knows many secrets about the people in the community. The author weaves a story that keeps you wondering: why has Aunt Love, the Bible quoting spinster, never maried? Will David fall in love again? Will the people at Mt. Pleasamt Church call him to be their pastor? What is Wes running away from? Is David Jocie's real father? Will Ogden Martin, one of Mt. Pleasant's Deacons, stop trying to thwart David's ministry? This is a great read. You will fall in love with the characters and the town. It's like Mitford in Kentucky.

Solid Story Line and a Pleasant Read

Until the summer of 1964, the most Jocie Brooke had to worry about was trying to be nice to obnoxious Ronnie Martin, being bombarded with Aunt Love's Scriptural quotes and wondering whether her father would become interim preacher at Mt. Pleasant church. She hadn't had an entirely easy childhood. Her mother left, taking along Jocie's older sister, seven years earlier. Outside of a general curiosity about the woman who gave birth to her and periodically missing the sister she fondly remembers, Jocie had come to terms with having an unconventional family. She had her father, of course, and her grandmother and great-aunt. Perhaps the most important person in her life, after her own dad, was "Jupiterian" and newspaperman extraordinaire, Wes. He had shown up out of nowhere not intending to stay, but an instant attachment to young Jocie meant he was still there a decade later. Now, God had answered two of Jocie's prayers--for a dog and the return of her sister Tabitha. Both were blessings in their own way, yet both also proved to be portholes to long-buried family secrets. Jocie, having been weaned on the Bible and newspaper publishing, was a truth seeker and therefore determined to discover everything she could. However, when one hidden detail hit too close to home for her, she decided she wasn't ready to face it. Soon the greater threat of having to confront tragedy just might be what's necessary to put things into proper perspective for her. The majority of Ann Gabhart's novel has the feel of the relaxed summer it's set in. Life, and the plot progression, is initially simple and easy-going. One never knows what surprises God and nature has in store, though. Turbulent skies and unsteady pasts can change a person's life in an instant. Readers should not be fooled or prematurely disappointed by what appears to be a sluggish beginning. In The Scent of Lilacs, surprises wait around every corner.

Great Book!

This book is very inspirational and heartwarming. The characters and the community are so much like where I grew up that it brings back many childhood memories. The book also has several unexpected twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat wondering what is going to happen next. I enjoyed the book very much and highly recommend it. I can't wait for the sequel to be published.

inspirational family drama

In 1964 Hollyhill, Kentucky, the owner of the Hollyhill Barrier David Brooke knows why he can only be an interim pastor at the Mt. Pleasant Church because the congregation expects its leader married. Thus David works the newspaper to feed his extended family and the church out of love. Seven years ago, David's wife Adrienne left without a look back taking their older daughter then thirteen years old Tabitha with her. She left behind their other child then six years old Jocie. David's septuagenarian Aunt Love lives with them, but he feels more like a referee between his two female relatives than their kin. Jocie wants to know about her family to what made Aunt Love into a preaching stoic spinster who is turning senile except for her biblical citations and why her mother left especially without her. She would also like to see her older sister who turn twenty shortly. As Jocie investigates her recent roots, secrets some would prefer left hidden begin to surface; she learns more about her aunt, her parents, and even the newspaper pressman. THE SCENT OF LILACS is a well written Christian historical family drama that sub-genre will deeply cherish. Jocie is a great inquisitive young teen struggling to understand the dynamics that engulf her in a shroud. The totally in black Aunt love will surprise readers when they learn alongside Jocie about her past. Finally, David is split apart as suffers guilt over his broken marriage and loss of a child and finding solace tending to his flock so that secularly he feels broken while spiritually connected. Ann. H. Gabhart provides an inspirational family drama. Harriet Klausner