The Night Gardener: A Search for Home

Rating:
Summary: Marjorie shares her life with the extended family
Review: As a member of a wide extended family, within whose ranks Ms. Sandor grew up, I found this book delightful in its woven tapestry of mysticism and real-life meditations on life's ebb and flow. Her stories evoke a gentle tug on one's spirit, while discussing things as disparate as gardening and fly fishing. I look forward to more of Ms. Sandor's work.

Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written, but self-absorbed and ultimately sad
Review: First the good points. She's an excellent writer. The stories are well-told, interesting, and her style is interesting. The personalities of many of the key characters remain obscure, yet we learn a lot about her father, Uncle, and a woman who helped raise her. I thought this was an interesting approach.

But the story is ultimately a sad one. For no apparent reason she leaves her husband to take up with another man. The writing starts to get very dramatic and maudlin. "The summer I fell in love and shouldn't have," is a phrase she repeats often. "But that is his story to tell," she writes about her ex-husband, as if he has the opportunity to write books explaining his side of the story. She ultimately wants to see a woman who once helped raise her, in part because this woman won't judge her.

The whole book left me feeling very sad. Sad for her daughter, he ex-husband, but not for the author, who did it to herself.

Rating:
Summary: The Storyteller
Review: The final chapter of the book captured an image of my great-grandmother that had never been visible to me. I am the great-grandson of Francisca Rodgriquez, and my mother was a childhood friend of Ms. Sandor. As a child I would accompany my mother to visit my great-grandmother, but I have unfortunately never heard her tell me any ghost stories. Her warmth and presence have remained intimately with me. I see the volumes of history and experience in her hands and in her spirit. As a child, I used to play under the tables of her living room and laugh with her dog molly. As I have grown to the age of 19, I feel my maturity opening my eyes to her special place in my heart. It is only now, with the memoirs of Ms. Sandor to inspire me, that I wish to grab a hold of grandma's stories and ensure that as she turns 89 years old, her spririt, wisdom, and love live forever.