The Garden of Happy Endings

Zusatztext Praise for the novels of Barbara O’Neal   “Absorbing . . . [with] lovingly sketched characters and real emotion.”— Publishers Weekly! on How to Bake a Perfect Life   “A powerful and intriguing story rich in detailed and vivid descriptions.”— Booklist! on The Secret of Everything Informationen zum Autor Barbara O'Neal Klappentext From Barbara O'Neal, beloved author of How to Bake a Perfect Life and The Lost Recipe for Happiness, comes another magical, heartfelt novel-perfect for fans of Kristin Hannah and Susan Wiggs. After tragedy shatters her small community in Seattle, the Reverend Elsa Montgomery has a crisis of faith. Returning to her hometown of Pueblo, Colorado, she seeks work in a local soup kitchen. Preparing nourishing meals for folks in need, she keeps her hands busy while her heart searches for understanding. Meanwhile, her sister, Tamsin, as pretty and colorful as Elsa is unadorned and steadfast, finds her perfect life shattered when she learns that her financier husband is a criminal. Enduring shock and humiliation as her beautiful house and possessions are seized, the woman who had everything now has nothing but the clothes on her back. But when the going gets tough, the tough get growing. A community garden in the poorest, roughest part of town becomes a lifeline. Creating a place of hope and sustenance opens Elsa and Tamsin to the renewing power of rich earth, sunshine, and the warm cleansing rain of tears. While Elsa finds her heart blooming in the care of a rugged landscaper, Tamsin discovers the joy of losing herself in the act of giving-and both women discover that with time and care, happy endings flourish.9780553386783|excerpt O'Neal / THE GARDEN OF HAPPY ENDINGS seattle, present day Chapter One Six days before she turned her back on God for the third time, Elsa Montgomery went to the harvest festival at her church. It was a bright orange Saturday in October, possibly the last sunny day of the year. She parked her car beneath an old mon- key tree and let her dog, Charlie, out of the backseat. A long-­legged black rescue with exuberant energy, he knew to mind his manners in crowds, keeping to her right side as they wandered toward the booths and tents set up on the lawn of the Unity church. Just as they rounded the edge of the fair, ducking beneath the low arms of a pine tree, Elsa caught the scent of rotten apples. For a moment, she thought it came from an earthly cause, an apple that had fallen behind the booths or lay in the thick grass, forgotten in the rush to get everything ready. There were certainly plenty of apples. Apples in baskets and apples in pies and apples floating in a tub filled with cold water for bobbing. Washington State was one of the premier apple-­growing states in the nation, and local orchards had contributed heavily to the annual church festival. It took place on the second weekend of October, when the leaves in the Seattle area hung on the trees like construction paper cutouts in shades of red and orange and yellow, and the worst of the winter gloom had not yet set in. The church, a small and humble building that boasted the stained glass art of a now-­famous former parishioner, sat unassumingly in the midst of an arts-­and-­crafts neighborhood, where the houses—­and thus the land the church sat upon—­were commandingly expensive even after the real estate debacle. The harvest committee rented booths to local farmers and craftspeople. It attracted a cheerful crowd of well-­tended parents, their scrubbed children, and obligatory golden retrievers. The families played games and ate caramel apples and plumped up the church coffers better than any other single thing they did every year. Elsa loved the fundraiser. It had been one of the first things she had created upon her arrival here as ...

Product details

• Authors: Barbara Neal, O&apos, Barbara O'Neal
• Publisher: Bantam Books USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 17.04.2012
• EAN: 9780553386783
• ISBN: 978-0-553-38678-3
• No. of pages: 416
• Dimensions: 135 mm x 205 mm x 20 mm
• Subject: Fiction > Narrative literature