-
Access Our
Most Anticipated
Books of 2025!
Summary | Excerpt | Reading Guide | Reviews | Beyond the book | Read-Alikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio
Book Reviewed by:Not since Good Grief has a book about a young widow been so poignant, funny, original, and utterly believable. A compelling debut novel about loss.
Give grief a chance ...
Lilian Girvan has been a single mother for three years - ever since her husband died in a car accident. One mental breakdown and some random suicidal thoughts later, she's just starting to get the hang of this widow thing. She can now get her two girls to school, show up to work, and watch TV like a pro. The only problem is she's becoming overwhelmed with being underwhelmed.
At least her textbook illustrating job has some perks - like actually being called upon to draw whale genitalia. Oh, and there's that vegetable-gardening class her boss signed her up for. Apparently being the chosen illustrator for a series of boutique vegetable guides means getting your hands dirty, literally. Wallowing around in compost on a Saturday morning can't be much worse than wallowing around in pajamas and self-pity.
After recruiting her kids and insanely supportive sister to join her, Lilian shows up at the Los Angeles Botanical Garden feeling out of her element. But what she'll soon discover - with the help of a patient instructor and a quirky group of gardeners - is that into every life a little sun must shine, whether you want it to or not…
Once in a while a book comes along that is pure fun, and that is how I feel about The Garden of Small Things (Anna R). It's written in a breezy style (Martha S). The author brilliantly handles the challenge of telling a story that is simultaneously very funny and very sad (Jean B). It made me laugh and cry, sometimes in the same sentence (Michele N). I have about 20 pages with my favorite sections dog-eared, and they never fail to make me smile, even when I know what's coming (Alline A). Waxman's writing is vivid and relational – pulling you into every situation and making you feel that you are living it (Jill W). This is a treasure of a book that will both enrich and delight the reader (Milda S)...continued
Full Review
(517 words)
This review is available to non-members for a limited time. For full access,
become a member today.
(Reviewed by First Impressions Reviewers).
In The Garden of Small Beginnings, the book's heroine becomes involved in a community garden.
A community garden is generally a piece of public land set aside for use by individuals who don't have the real-estate or resources to create gardens of their own. Although the idea of a shared planting space has been around for centuries, the concept as we think of it now took firm hold in the United States during World War II when local governments encouraged the creation of "victory gardens" to help with personal food production.
Today, community gardens have evolved to mean different things to different people or organizations. Some, like the Clinton Community Garden in Manhattan, are works of art – greenspaces ...
This "beyond the book" feature is available to non-members for a limited time. Join today for full access.
If you liked The Garden of Small Beginnings, try these:
by Mike Gayle
Published 2022
If you loved A Man Called Ove, then prepare to be delighted as Jamaican immigrant Hubert rediscovers the world he'd turned his back on in this "warm, funny" novel (Good Housekeeping).
by Yuko Tsushima
Published 2020
From one of the most significant contemporary Japanese writers, a haunting, dazzling novel of loss and rebirth
Julia Claiborne Johnson, author of Be Frank With Me
This is my favorite kind of book - hilarious, sad, joyful. Beautifully written. Fun. I dare you not to enjoy it.
