By Susan O’Bryan. Special to the Clarion-Ledger Sunday print edition (January 7)
Families are so much like gardens. The bloom, go dormant, and then either bloom again or perish. Whether they thrive depends on conditions beyond their control, but most importantly, they require attention when stressed.
So plays out the message in Julie Cantrell’s latest novel, Perennials (Thomas Nelson), an intimate and intriguing look at families, relationships, and the role each member plays. The New York Times and USA Today award-winning author is known for her inspirational novels that offer hope in the face of emotional issues. Her smooth, lyrical writing style fits well with the laid-back atmosphere of Southern living.
Beautiful gardens in and around Oxford provide the background for Cantrell’s latest tale of growth and forgiveness. In gardening terms, perennials bloom, die back, and then return with new growth from the original root. Cantrell’s characters are perennials, too, as they try to get back to their roots in a once tight, loving family.
Eva Sutherland, nicknamed Lovey, and Bitsy once were adoring sisters who ran and played, capturing fireflies with the neighbor boys. They were the children of a small-town ex-football player who became a small-town lawyer and a debutante mother who grew stunning flower gardens. Lovey’s life was charmed until her mom’s gardening shed burns, injuries a young friend, and Bitsy puts all the blame on her little sister.
Bitsy becomes a cheerleader. The homecoming queen. The perfect Southern belle who can do no wrong. All the while, Lovey gets kicked down and laughed at, always bearing the brunt when Bitsy and her snotty friends throw blame her way.
Tired of living as her sister’s scapegoat, Lovey starts a new life in Arizona, blossoming as a successful advertising executive and a weekend yoga instructor. She hasn’t been home in years and has no plans to return except for her parents’ 50th anniversary. Lovey’s plans change when she gets a plea from her dad, known as Chief, to come home early and help build a surprise memory garden for her mom.
Years of hurt feelings and cold shoulders from sister Bitsy aren’t easily forgotten, though. Simple visits turn into snaps and low blows that even their parents can’t seem to stop. Why is Bitsy so angry when everyone else seems glad to have Lovey home, especially her one-time fiancé Fisher?
Chief’s motto is “family first,” and he’s determined to mend the holes in his family’s lives. When a tragedy hits, family is all that’s left–for better or worse.
Cantrell’s garden settings, surrounded by literary history at its best, emphasize the strength of God’s creations, the power of discovering roots, and what living perennially in spite of disappointments really means.
Susan O’Bryan is a former Clarion-Ledger and Clinton News editor and writer with more than 30 years of journalistic experience. She now is the web content coordinator at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
Julie Cantrell will be at Lemuria on Wednesday, February 28, at 5:00 to sign and read from Perennials.
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