A Garden in Paris

I really liked this book, and look forward to the sequel. I love all things french and romantic. I am at the age where I want to believe it is never too late to achieve your dream, and this book reinforced that! It is a good book to pick you up out of your doldrums.

Stephanie Grace Whitson has a wonderful, sometimes witty voice and tells a fascinating, satisfying story. Layer by layer, revelations peel away and we discover surprising facts about the real and likeable characters. And in the process, maybe we discover things about ourselves--who we are, who we would like to be. Vivid descriptions slip in to make Paris a beautiful main character in this story about Mary Davis, a new widow of a certain age. Finding a motto on a plaque, she is inspired to go back to Paris to pursue old dreams. There she learns that with God's help, indeed, "It is never too late to be what you might have been."

I loved this book and cannot wait for the sequel. I have 2 friends that call me all the time asking if the new book is out yet.

A Garden in Paris by Stephanie Grace Whitson is a poignant novel of acceptance and reconciliation. After a lifetime of living for others, Mary Davis finds a framed motto at an antique market. It says, "It is never too late to be what you might have been." Mary decides that she must at least attempt to be what she might have been and free herself of the past that haunts her. It is two years after her husband's death and the motto's simple statement offers her hope for the future. It also prompts her to write a letter that sets into motion a collision course with her past and present life. Mary leaves for Paris following a disagreement with her only daughter, Elizabeth, who had always been "Daddy's girl." Through the family housekeeper, Elizabeth learns part of her mother's history - a history that her father would never allow her mother to live - and demanded that it be kept secret. Elizabeth learned that her beloved father cut her mother off from the very life she was born to live. And out of love and obligation, Mary did so. It a rare act of spontaneity, Liz follows her mother to Paris where she attempts to reconcile with her mother, and there meets her own history face-to face, one she never imagined. A Garden in Paris is a well-written novel that will keep you turning the pages and wanting more. It is, so far, my favorite 2005 Christian novel. The manner in which Whitson manages to incorporate faith into the story is ingenuous. I was thrilled to learn that there is a sequel to A Garden in Paris.