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Every so often , without any fanfare, a book comes along silent as the night and literally explodes into a story that blossoms with love and the need for it to go on. For in this kind of book, it is sad to see an ending for it has invoked in you all kinds of wonderful feelings, love, and desire to be better.

“Allegedly warmth, cheeriness, friendliness and strength are distinct from one another and your likability is largely determined by how much of each you project. The definition of warmth is how easily you convey you have something in common with another person.”

Jan’s review

I love books that I connect with emotionally. This charming and poignant book did just that.  May is a botanist who works  at the local university, when she is awarded a month long sabbatical. She has lived a rather solitary existence with her elderly father  and decides to use this unexpected gift of time to go on a personal odyssey to visit 4 old friends she hasn’t kept up with. As May muses,  “It seems to me that your oldest friends can offer a glimpse of who you were from a time before you had a sense of yourself and that’s what I’m after.”

Even though I’m neither a gardener or a student of classic literature I loved the references and quotes to both, and how they related to May’s musings. The insights into friendship in the digital age really resonated  with me. It made me want to go on a road trip to visit old friends. I loved May, in all her humanness and  sharp wit. I highlighted so many passages I was in danger of highlighting the entire book.

Never cloyingly precious, I turned the last page with a warm heart and a tear in my eye. It’s a lighter read with wit, humor and substance, but is never cloyingly precious or predictable. This is a lovely story about healing from tragedy and the human need for face-to-face connections,  messy as they are. Highly recommended!
This book led to a terrific discussion between Marialyce, Victoria, and myself. Many thanks to Victoria who suggested this book!

“Perhaps a best friend is someone who…. holds the story of your life in  mind. Sometimes in music a melodic line is so beautiful the notes feel inevitable; you can anticipate the next note through a long rest. Maybe that is friendship. A best friend holds the story of your life in mind so notes don’t have to be repeated.”

Marialyce’s review

It’s never too late to learn about yourself. It’s never to late to reconnect to the people, the things, and the family that you love. It’s just never too late to live life joyfully yet quietly, finding its fulfillment in the grace of friends and the power of nature.

The power of friendship is a strong one. There are friends who are like the trunks of trees ever steadfast and ready to be your strength. There are friends who are like flowers bringing their bits of sunshine into a life that may be solitary and lonely. There are friends who know you so well that they can pick up a conversation with you from years ago as if time has not escaped at all.

In this most amazing book we meet May Attaway, a quiet semi reclusive forty year old who connects better with the plant kingdom than she does with humans. However, May self imposed isolation is about to end as she is given time off from work. It’s time May realizes, for a re connection to four of her friends so she sets off to visit each and every one of them.

This is not the stuff of an email, a facebook look see, or an instant message. This is different and in the digital age we now live in, May ‘s connections are personal, face to face and a look at what makes friendship a wonderful link to what makes us human. It’s the simplicity of friendship, the binding that is understanding, the love that is there but never stated.

I saw in my reading such a powerful link between the living world of trees and plants to the links and lines of friendship. There is much beauty in the world and certainly ranked among that beauty is the glory of friendship, flowers, and trees. They link us to the earth and as we are linked to our friends, we find that in every relationship there is moments to savor, to remember and to cherish. Just as trees and plants grow and often flourish with care, so does the blossoming and blooming of friendship.

This wonderful story makes one look inside and see that even in the digital age we can decide to isolate oneself and honestly, isn’t that sometimes the easiest way to go? However, in this story we readily see how wonderful the power is of having someone know you, share your life and thoughts, and to always be there to affirm that yes, you are important, you are valuable, you are loved.

I can’t recommend this book more highly. It will be one of my favorites of 2019 and what a joy it was to share with two of my dear friends, Jan and Victoria. Read it, share it, and be grateful for all the world has given you.

and here’s the author

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kmuw-2/marginalia/e/62137237