Book Review: Tending Roses by Lisa Wingate

Tending Roses (Tending Roses #1). Lisa Wingate. Signet (2001). 336 pages. Genre:  Christian Fiction.

First Lines: "Indian wisdom says our lives are rivers.  We are born somewhere small and quiet and we move toward a place we cannot see, but only imagine.  Along our journey, people and events flow into us, and we are created of everywhere and everyone we have passed."

Summary:  Kate Bowman, her husband Ben and their baby son move temporarily to her grandmother's home in Missouri.  Except Grandma Rose thinks they are just visiting for the holidays.  The other members of Kate's family think the time has come to move Grandma Rose to a nursing home. Kate is reluctant.  Her grandmother is more forgetful and just as stubborn as ever.  But as Kate spends time with her, she learns so many things about what is important in life.  Moving from her home will break her heart.  But what is best for the family and most of all for Grandma Rose?

My thoughts:  This is Lisa Wingate's first published novel and it is a great one.  Her inspiration for the story was taken from her own relationship with her grandmother.  

Kate is on maternity leave from her job in Chicago.  She loves her job and hates being away from the office.  Her husband, Ben, is able to work remotely so they are the best candidates to stay with Grandma Rose.  She recently started a fire in her laundry room when she forgot to turn off the iron.  The memories Kate has of her grandmother are of someone who would inspect people's shoes for mud when they entered the house or put a coaster under their drink and especially listening to the plumbing to make sure no one was flushing too much toilet paper.  In other words, she didn't miss a thing.  So, it is hard to imagine how she could forget to turn off the iron.  Dealing with Grandma's stubbornness and forgetfulness is trying.

However, Kate is getting to know her grandmother for the first time in her life.  In between her tirades, she surprises Kate with words of wisdom that she can't ignore.  One afternoon when Grandma Rose has fallen asleep in her rocking chair, Kate notices a notebook lying next to her.  She knows she shouldn't open it, but can't seem to help herself.  There she finds a reflection about life that touches her deeply.  She begins to reevaluate her priorities and imagine her life in a different way.  After that first reading, she seems to find the notebook waiting for her just when she needs a boost of encouragement. 

The characters and the struggles they go through are so realistic.  The story just flows along so smoothly.  That is not to say that their lives go smoothly, quite the contrary.  There are lots of difficult things to work through such as deciding what is best for Grandma Rose, getting by on one income, dealing with estranged relatives, finding fulfillment outside of the workplace and dealing with a baby and an elderly relative at the same time. 

Tending Roses is a beautiful story, beautifully told. I didn't realize going in that the story takes place in the weeks leading up to Christmas and would make a great Christmas read.  I marked so many quotes to copy into my commonplace book, but I will try to keep it brief here.

Quotes:

"In a perfect world, babies are born healthy, and medical bills don't snowball into the tens of thousands of dollars, and grandmothers don't almost burn down their houses, and family members don't go years without speaking to one another, and Christmas is a time to look forward to...."

"Sinking into the quilted cushions of Grandma's swing, I took in a deep breath of warm air.  It smelled of green winter wheat and freshly tilled earth, drying puddles of water and decaying leaves.  Just a hint of winter."

"'We children knew not to complain or we would leave the table hungry.  My father would say the Lord served up the meals and it wasn't our business to complain about the menu.'"

"Your children are the greatest gift God will give you, and their souls the heaviest responsibility He will place in your hands.  Take time with them, teach them to have faith in God.  Be a person in whom they can have faith.  When you are old, nothing else you've done will have mattered as much."