This was the first book I've read written by this author. I enjoyed it very much. I really connected with the main characters, Iris and Abby.
Iris has suffered much loss in her life. Her husband to WW ll and her daughter to polio. She had decided to wall herself off from any human interaction. Her only companionship are the flowers of her heirloom garden. Abby and her family move in next door. Abby's husband is a soldier who had been stationed in Iraq. He's dealing with many demons; drinking and depression. Their daughter Lily is a typical child. She becomes curious about their reclusive neighbor. After awhile Abby, Cory and Lily take down Iris's wall that she has built around herself. Iris allows herself to feel again and everyone finds healing in the garden. ( )

If you like gardening, you might like this book. Iris is of elderly woman whose husband was killed in WWII, and sadly, his body is never recovered. A few years later, her young daughter dies, leaving Iris in extreme grief.

A gardener who cultivates flowers, creating new colors and beauty. The Garden Iris grows is the thread that helps her grief. Still, she builds a large fence around her house so that the outside can stay away.

Iris decides to rent the house that previously belonged to her grandmother, who taught her how to make a garden thrive. A new job brings Abby into the area, and she rents the house from Iris and her child.

When Abby's husband returns from the Iraq war, he is a damaged post traumatic man. Their young daughter, like her mother, tries to understand the man who left home returned a different person.

It is the young daughter who interacts with Iris through a hole in the fence who brings Iris and Abby's family together.

Cozy, lovely and warm is how I describe this book. Each chapter contains a flower and the meaning of it. It was lovely to read how the family embraces Iris as she also helps heal the terrible memories war can bring.

Four stars. ( )

The perfect book to read as summer comes to an end. I enjoyed most of it sitting outside on my deck looking at my own flowers! ( )

What a beautiful book! Taking a new job, Abby moves her family into a cottage owned by an elderly reclusive woman (Iris) who lives next door in a home surrounded by a very tall fence. Abby's husband Cory suffers post-traumatic stress disorder from his service in the Iraq war. The woman next door lost her husband in World War II. His body was never recovered. Her only daughter died a short time later of polio. The woman worked to create the community's Victory Garden that fed many in the area during the War. Her yard is filled with beautiful blooms that Lily, Abby and Cory's daughter, loves. As Cory begins to recover, he finds gardening therapeutic. Abby's family and Iris share many interests and parallels, bonding with one another, and finding a way to healing. I loved this story which will appeal to anyone interested in flowers, colors, or gardening. The ending will appeal to many forensic genealogists. ( )

Whenever I finish a Viola Shipman book, I feel like I am saying goodbye to good friends. The books are full of beauty, family, love, hope, kindness, friendship, and more. The Heirloom Garden is a beautiful story of loss followed by hope.
Viola Shipman, a pseudonym for Wade Rouse, writes his books in tribute to his grandmother. She must have been a very special woman because his books are testaments of love. Sometimes the books are not subtle in their message, often almost knocking you over the head with their message, but that is what we need to hear the message on many occasions.
I loved how this novel tells the story through flowers and their life cycle, and how it also looks at veterans and war and the toll it takes on families and a community. I loved how seeing life through a child can change people’s hearts. I loved how a family learns to move forward. I loved how the book honors and encourages strong women.
This is the 5th Viola Shipman book, I have read and loved each one. I can’t wait for his next book!
#TheHeirloomGarden #ViolaShipman ( )