Just as the garden of "Winter Bloom" is lovingly and skillfully brought back to life, so are the lives of the characters revived and renewed. Tara Heavey tells the story of five people who work together toward a common goal and discover much about themselves and each other along the way. When young widowed mother Eva Madigan spies the sadly neglected walled garden of the elderly Mrs. Prendergast, she is struck by the desire to restore the wasted space to its former glory. It takes some convincing, and Mrs. Prendergast warns her that the garden is meant to be sold, but Eva is given permission for her project. She places an ad at the grocer for help with a community garden, and only two people respond to the ad: Uri, a distinguished older gentleman, and Emily, the clerk from the grocer. Soon they are joined by Uri's son Seth, and after a time, even Mrs. Prendergast begins to help with the work. Each of the gardeners has been touched by tragedy, and their individual stories are woven throughout the telling of the restoration. Uri, a tailor by trade, was taught much by his own father, who was a master gardener. Seth, who inherited his love of cultivating the soil from his father and grandfather, has his own landscaping business. Emily, stuck in her clerk's job, longs to further her education and move on with her life. Mrs. Prendergast, a lady of impeccable social grace, is nonetheless rumored to have killed her husband and buried him somewhere in the garden. It is her greedy, needy son, Lance, who is pressuring her to sell the land. Eva's husband took their baby daughter for a drive to settle her crying, and they were both killed in a terrible accident. Eva was left to care for their young son, Liam, and to manage her survivor guilt. These are remarkable people, trying their best to live "ordinary" lives. I was touched by their heartaches, and I celebrated with them their joys. Their shared experience was an affirmation of life, not only for the characters, but also for the reader. I will definitely read more work by the wonderful storyteller, Tara Heavey!

Review Copy Gratis Simon & Schuster ( )

Winter Bloom by Tara Heavey

Trade paperback: 384 pages
Simon & Schuster, $15.00
October 12, 2010
ISBN-10: 1439177937
ISBN-13: 978-1439177938

When Eva Madigan entered a neighborhood sweet shop with Liam on a sunny Saturday in October she finally felt there was hope. Something was different. The young widow and her four year old son were new to Dublin, and Eva was having a hard time getting to know people, having a hard time finding a place in the world. Then a chance encounter with mysterious old Mrs. Prendergast (whom gossips suspect murdered her husband and buried him the garden) led Eva to that long abandoned Prendergast garden and a disjointed group of people. Their lives would be forever changed by answering Eva’s blind request for help to work in a community garden.

Mrs. Prendergast’s garden brought together people of all ages and backgrounds. Their only commonality was their love of gardens. Making up the rag-tag group are Uri, a Holocaust survivor and his divorced son Seth, a mysterious young college-aged Emily with a secret of her own, and the sad Eva. As they struggle to reclaim the garden from years of neglect, friendships are made, secrets are shared, and lives are entwined. All is lovely in the garden until one day Lance, Mrs. Prendergast’s son, shows up demanding that the garden be sold.

Author Tara Heavey’s Winter Bloom is a well written, engaging story of loss and our fight for survival by adapting to the things that are beyond our control. I normally don’t review cover art, but I believe this book deserves a different cover. No offense to the designer but this is not a light “chick lit” book. It’s a study of the human sou,l and I think it should have a less “chick lit-ish” fluffy cover. I highly recommend Winter Bloom and am purposefully being vague about the plot so that as so the secrets and stories unfold, and I won’t want ruin your read. Get it, enjoy it, share it.

Tara Heavey was born in London and moved to Dublin at the age of 12. A former lawyer, she is currently a full-time author who lives in Dublin with her family.

Source: This book was provided to me by the publisher at my request and in no way affected my review.

www.novelchatter.com ( )

Eva Madigan, a young single mother, has moved to Dublin with her son Liam to start life anew. Eva chose Dublin because she used to visit her grandmother there as a child.

While in a gourmet shop one day, the shopkeeper mentions that the elderly woman ahead of Eva in line is rumoured to have murdered her husband. A few days later, Eva saves Mrs. Prendergast, from a purse-snatcher, and as the older woman seems a little shaken, Eva insists that she and Liam walk her home. As they are leaving, Eva stops to look at Mrs. Prendergast's walled back garden, which is huge and badly in need of care. Although the woman was curiously ungrateful and brusque, Eva stops by a few days later to check on her anyway.

One of her reasons for stopping by is to ask if she can help Mrs. Prendergast with the garden, which is obviously too much for her. Eventually, the old woman agrees, and Eva puts up a notice in the grocery store for volunteers to help her.

There are only two responses, a retired tailor named Uri and a university student named Emily. Like Eva, they are trying to get over something from their past, and we slowly learn all their stories.

I discovered Heavey when I was in Ireland a few years ago, and picked up Making It Up as I Go Along on a whim. It was well-written and absorbing, so when I saw the e-galley of Winter Bloom I snapped it up. It's also well-written, and absorbed me for the duration of a long airplane trip. ( )