The Colored Garden

I really enjoyed this book. Parts of it were painful because I related them to my own growing up in the South during the same time period. The main character, Sarge, is a melding of my brother and a couple of his friends and the grandparents in the story evoked memories of my long-dead uncles and aunts. This is a touching story that emphasizes how important it is for families to cherish each other.

This book touched my heart in a way that no book has for many years! I have read it three times and each time, it moved me to tears in the very same places. Not just a story for the descendants of slaves in the US, this is a story for all of us, reminding us that there is much to learn and build on from the lives of our ancestors and the way they learned to overcome hardship.

This excellent work met all of my expectations. The stories were so vivid that I could see every detail in my imagination. Grandma Ruth was the character who touched me most with her great gift creating beauty in her garden as well as in her storytelling. The author also captured the essence of childhood in the evolution of Sarge. If we all think hard enough, we've all known at least one Sarge in our lives. O.H. Bennett is an author to watch in the future and I look forward to his next publication as well as passing this one along for others to enjoy.

In the Colored Garden we are led through a bit of history in the stories Grandma Ruth relates to her Grandson Kenneth or Sarge as he is known. The tales of the slaves and family members lain to rest in a small plot, maintained as a garden, tell us a lot about our collective past, and where we need to be going in our future. I laughed and I cried at these telling stories, more way they were told, and why, than the historical truths they relay. This is a wonderfull book for all generations, colors and creeds. We all have heros like Cakes, Bobbycat, and the Major. We have known the fears life brings us. The author, Oscar Bennett, takes us through the steps of life in one memorable summer. You must read this book, it is a blessing.

The Colored Garden is a fascinating novel about storytellers: a boy called Sarge and his grandmother Ruth, whose farm Sarge visits in the wake of his parents' separation. On the farm is an old slave cemetery that Ruth tends as a beautiful flower garden. As Sarge struggles to understand his parents' impending divorce, Grandmother Ruth begins to tell him adventures of the dead slaves. These spirits become heroes to the boy during this pivotal summer in his life, and the faith he once had in his parents is transferred to them. Listening to Ruth and observing the behavior of the adults around him, Sarge learns that some secrets we keep, while others keep us. The Colored Garden is a highly recommended, original story, in which the author compelling explores the human condition, past and present in a lyrical, engaging narrative.