A Novel Review: The First Gardener by Denise Hildreth Jones

     As I was resting and relaxing at the beach this past week, I was priviledged to read a brand new novel by Denise Hildreth Jones called The First Gardener. This book will hit the stores this August.   I've never read an unedited, review copy of a book before and it was very exciting!  I finished the book on Friday before we left the beach to come home.  I wrote these thoughts in my "Thought Book" on the beach Friday afternoon.  I would like to share with you what I wrote as my first response, unedited, and exactly what came to mind as I thought about what I had just experienced in this incredibly intense book of Christian fiction.  I highly recommend it!  Great job, Denise!

"I smiled.  I laughed out loud.  I was lost in thought.  My eyes blurry with tears, deep grief, deep searching of the soul.  Suprise ending- spiritual truth. One of my pleasures- flowers.
I really wasn't sure why you chose me to read an unedited review copy of your novel, The First Gardener, until today.  This is what I saw that made me realize why: transparency, "real" life, "real" people, "real" faith through a story of fiction.  Real flowers with real meanings.  The Lily in particular- "return to happiness- complete."  What an emotional journey this was.  I felt as if I were there watching everything that happened.  It was fun, yet fierce.  Sassy, yet serious.  It was hard, yet healing.

Thank you for the honor of reading this incredible story.  I felt like it wasn't just a story but a journey from joy to despair and back to joy.  It was the discovery of who God truly is and the "bigness" of our loving heavenly Father.  The line of truth that Grace speaks to Mack, that even Suzy could parrot, "we go through" the hard times, the grief, the despair.  We can't go around it, under it, or over it and be changed.  "We go through" it with Him and He changes us for the better.  "The better" is more holy.  More like Jesus- a better reflection of Him than we were before the suffering.

The mystery of the story was wrapped up in the events where each subtle circumstance was an opportunity to uncover what God was up to. From the silliest of capers with the fearsome foursome to the sincerity of Jeremiah's prayers and his willingness to obey even if "he don' know why".

God's creation, another mystery of His glory made visible- the creation of children, the creation of flowers, the creation of love, emotions, beauty.  This story was a picture of God's beauty that shines through a broken world and when given permission, shines through broken people.  What ART!  What a treasure!"

My Pleasure,
Melanie
http://www.livingrealmag.com/
*To find out how you can get this book go to www.denisehildrethjones.com