Rating: 
Summary: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Review: The writing was lyrical and lush with lots of colorful descriptions of flowers but the story lacked dramatic conflict and it was hard to empathize with the characters. So, I kept waiting for the plot to move forward and it didn't. It remained as stagnant as the primary character.
Rating: 
Summary: Attar of Roses
Review: There is no greater gift than a book found at a bargain price ..., new and lovely, WITH a fabulously, gentle tale of love. No syrupy love this, but a romance of everlasting grace, the story of aged Conrad who so deeply grieves the loss of his Rose, his wife and life's companion, that he would like to die. Then, early on, Conrad sees the Angel Lemuel, and other mystical things begin to happen which transform his death wish into the rest of his LIFE! This lovely little story reaffirms the belief that life is to be lived, that a great love need not die, that grief is just another step in life's journey. And with the graceful story telling style of a Jan Karon, Carrie Brown's first novel, though only discovered a few week's ago by me, becomes a new treasure in this reader's life. How could someone so young as Carrie Brown imagine the great truths of life? Well she has; and they are waiting in this little book for your opening. There is a beautiful message here as one grieving man finds the wider world just outside his grief in his own community, one his Rose always knew.
Rating:
Summary: Attar of Roses
Review: There is no greater gift than a book found at a bargain price ..., new and lovely, WITH a fabulously, gentle tale of love. No syrupy love this, but a romance of everlasting grace, the story of aged Conrad who so deeply grieves the loss of his Rose, his wife and life's companion, that he would like to die. Then, early on, Conrad sees the Angel Lemuel, and other mystical things begin to happen which transform his death wish into the rest of his LIFE! This lovely little story reaffirms the belief that life is to be lived, that a great love need not die, that grief is just another step in life's journey. And with the graceful story telling style of a Jan Karon, Carrie Brown's first novel, though only discovered a few week's ago by me, becomes a new treasure in this reader's life. How could someone so young as Carrie Brown imagine the great truths of life? Well she has; and they are waiting in this little book for your opening. There is a beautiful message here as one grieving man finds the wider world just outside his grief in his own community, one his Rose always knew.
Rating: 
Summary: Very skillful, entertaining novel about life
Review: This book was very enjoyable. I especially like Carrie Brown's skillful interweaving of the plot, past & present, as the story went on. Although some book reviewers have made much of the ghost aspect of the book, it plays a fairly minor role, really ... more of a catalyst to the main character's thoughts about the past than a central feature of every page. The relationship of the main character to his pigeons, and to his father in law through the pigeons was what I thought was the most exciting & interesting part of the book. This volume is another successful choice by Amazon competitor, Barnes & Noble, in its first novel series. I haven't gone wrong yet in this series, although some of the books were stronger than others.
Rating:
Summary: Very skillful, entertaining novel about life
Review: This book was very enjoyable. I especially like Carrie Brown's skillful interweaving of the plot, past & present, as the story went on. Although some book reviewers have made much of the ghost aspect of the book, it plays a fairly minor role, really ... more of a catalyst to the main character's thoughts about the past than a central feature of every page. The relationship of the main character to his pigeons, and to his father in law through the pigeons was what I thought was the most exciting & interesting part of the book. This volume is another successful choice by Amazon competitor, Barnes & Noble, in its first novel series. I haven't gone wrong yet in this series, although some of the books were stronger than others.
Rating:
Summary: Exquisite writing from a fine author....
Review: To speak of "Rose's Garden" is to describe a masterpiece of writing using only one of our many senses. It is only when you open the novel and begin to turn the pages that you find a delectable assortment of sensations and wondrous happenings. Conrad Morrissey is an elderly man mourning the loss of his beloved wife, Rose. Feeling dejected and alone, oblivious to a horrible storm as it rages outside, he feels drawn from the shelter of his home into Rose's garden. It is there that he receives a "visitation"...but not from Rose...from an "angel with a rutted Abraham Lincoln face." It was his father-in-law, Lemuel. Conrad watches in amazement, his eyes fixed on Lemuel as his great wings unfurl. At that moment Conrad knows that this is the end for him and he's glad. He'll soon be reunited with Rose. But Lemuel's only message to Conrad is to "Go back home." Home is the last place Conrad wants to be. It is there that he feels the depth of his despair over the loss of Rose. During their life together he'd held Rose gently in his hands like a delicate bird in need of his nurturing touch. But one by one as the townsfolk begin to creep into his life, he discovers that Rose existed in more places than his life. Through the effect she had on the townspeople, they begin to nurture Conrad and he learns that although paradise with Rose awaits him, he can live again--Mary Hughes (author of The Last Slow Dance available on Amazon.com)
Rating:
Summary: Exquisite writing from a fine author....
Review: To speak of "Rose's Garden" is to describe a masterpiece of writing using only one of our many senses. It is only when you open the novel and begin to turn the pages that you find a delectable assortment of sensations and wondrous happenings. Conrad Morrissey is an elderly man mourning the loss of his beloved wife, Rose. Feeling dejected and alone, oblivious to a horrible storm as it rages outside, he feels drawn from the shelter of his home into Rose's garden. It is there that he receives a "visitation"...but not from Rose...from an "angel with a rutted Abraham Lincoln face." It was his father-in-law, Lemuel. Conrad watches in amazement, his eyes fixed on Lemuel as his great wings unfurl. At that moment Conrad knows that this is the end for him and he's glad. He'll soon be reunited with Rose. But Lemuel's only message to Conrad is to "Go back home." Home is the last place Conrad wants to be. It is there that he feels the depth of his despair over the loss of Rose. During their life together he'd held Rose gently in his hands like a delicate bird in need of his nurturing touch. But one by one as the townsfolk begin to creep into his life, he discovers that Rose existed in more places than his life. Through the effect she had on the townspeople, they begin to nurture Conrad and he learns that although paradise with Rose awaits him, he can live again--Mary Hughes (author of The Last Slow Dance available on Amazon.com)
Rating: 
Summary: A sentimental novel; does not live up to its promise.
Review: Widower Conrad spies an angel in his deceased wife's garden. It's all down hill from there. He has many flashbacks about his moody, wise, humane wife, but she never became believeable to me as a reader. Conrad mucks around trying to figure out what his life should be about without his beloved Rose. Towards the end, a deus ex machina-like plot device of a flood brings crisis and meaning to Conrad's life, but most readers will be asleep by then. This much-hyped novel which ties in with the (yawn) angel craze, is a poorly edited, overlong manuscript full of description and very little character development or plot.... Occasionally, there are bright spots, such as moments when Conrad works with his homing pigeons, but I for one do not see how this book got so popular. I forced myself to finish it but it wasn't worth my time (apologies to the author).
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