Lost in the Garden

In the Pittsburgh, area, forty-five years old Michael Benedict decides he wants to live his dream of becoming a professional golfer so he plans to join the senior tour. His wife Kelly is unhappy with his desire although they live comfortably with their two children and his investments are growing. However, Kelly says if he score under seventy twice, she will support his Peter Pan fantasy. When she learns she is pregnant he reacts by being cold towards her. She is hurt by his icy demeanor, but she reacts by withdrawing from him. Needing sex and not getting any home cooking he moves out becomes a recurring client of Healing Touch sexual therapy. He makes his bid to join the tour, but lacks conviction until his caddie Sal gets into his face that he has the talent to play, but not the heart. LOST IN THE GARDEN is a terrific look at relationships when a man rejects his lifestyle to keep his youth even as he enters middle age. Michael is a deep person as he is the focus of the story line with his refusal to bring anything further into his relationships with loved ones and willingly gives up everyone he cherishes. The rest of the cast is not quite as developed as the prime player. Although the ending implies reconciliation, which goes against the trend of the plot, readers will appreciate making par with Philip Beard. Harriet Klausner

Despite the less universal subject appeal, this book is even better than Beard's first novel,'Dear Zoe.' It is not about golf and sex. It is about family relationships and personal growth. It is hilariously funny, poignant,wise and wonderful. Forget Kirkus' dumb plot review and live for a few hours with Beard's characters: Kelly, Sal and Hank. You will ache for Michael and his children and you will laugh out loud at Michael as a child. I challenge you not to love this book.

Although this book didn't pull me into it in quite the same way as did his Dear Zoe, (which was one of my favorite books ever, so it would've been hard to do), it was a thoroughly enjoyable read. Beard is a skilled and observant writer. I have this habit of highlighting passages that I find especially well done, and my copy of Lost in the Garden is probably now more yellow than white. I hope women and non-golf-lovers won't be discouraged from reading this book because of its golf theme. There's far more to this story than golf.

I bought this book because I enjoyed Mr. Beard's first book, "Dear Zoe" and I'm a sucker for books about golf. While the descriptions of Micahel Benedict's quest for the senior golf tour were great, his observations about love and life were what made the book so special. And I had to laugh out loud several times at his observations that brought back memories of similar experiences.