Tuesday, November 25, 2025

11.25.2025 - The Memory Gardener

The Memory Gardener by Meg Donohue 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster | Gallery Books for gifting me a digital ARC of this charming book by Meg Donohue.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars rounded up!

Lucy has always had an ability to know exactly what scent from the flowers that she grows will return a memory from the past to a person.  She's hid that ability and lived a very nomadic life, going from one gardening job to another.  When her dad needs help after her mother's death, she returns to her home town and gets a job at an assisted-living community, unearthing gardens and transforming the community.

This was just a sweet story, full of magical realism and thoughts about memory - those memories that make us happy or sad, those that keep us trapped, those that move us forward.  I loved the characters - and Gully the dog - and could just imagine the secret gardens and flowers that transformed a place that was inherently sad.  Each chapter began with a description of a different flower and its meaning, making the book even more of a special experience.  I did not see the end coming adding a nice twist to the story.  This was just the quiet book I needed right now!

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