The Cross Gardener [Hardcover]

Jason F. Wright (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2, 2010

From the New York Times bestselling author, an inspiring story of life, love, and moving on.

Married and the father of a young daughter, John Bevan had finally found the traditional family he lacked as an orphaned child. But all that disappears when a fatal car accident steals away his wife-and the unborn child she carried.

Filled with sorrow, John withdraws from life and love. He erects a small cross at the scene of his wife's accident and visits daily, grieving. Then one morning he encounters a young man kneeling before the cross, touching it up with white paint. John's conversations and travels with this mysterious man-known to him only as the Cross Gardener-will forever change his world.

From Jason F. Wright comes a timeless tale that explores the questions we ask when our lives are touched by loss: How do we carry on? And who will show us the way? The answers John Bevan finds illuminate the hope that even in our darkest hours we are not alone.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Author and political commentator Wright (The Wednesday Letters, coauthor with Glenn Beck of The Christmas Sweater) returns with another modern fable that wears its conservative values on its sleeve. Born on the side of the road to a dying teenager, John Bevan grew into happiness and safety on an idyllic Shenandoah Valley orchard, falling in love as a teenager, eventually marrying his high school sweetheart and having a daughter with her. When, pregnant with their second child, his wife dies in a car accident, John finds his faith and ability to function shattered. Attending the site of her death, John encounters the Cross Gardener, a man who tends the roadside memorials of strangers, and with his help John finds himself returning to the path of responsibility and righteousness. This title offers the same kind of values-focused emotionalism that fans expect, with plenty of uplift and tradition-affirming sentiment; even by the standard of his other work, however, this effort is prudish and clunky, and John often comes across as more sullen than bereaved.
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Review

"Passionate, spiritual and thought-provoking...[A] beautifully written book."
-Glenn Beck, talk radio and FOX news host, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"Sharp prose, clever characterizations, thought-provoking insights...fresh and spiritual."
-Don Piper, New York Times bestselling author of 90 Minutes in Heaven and Heaven is Real

"Celebrates the incredible joys of the human experience."
-Kevin Milne, author of The Nine Lessons

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 293 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Hardcover; 1 edition (March 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425233286
• ISBN-13: 978-0425233283
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #566,772 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jason Wright is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USAToday bestselling author. He is also a political commentator and the co-founder of http://www.politicalderby.com, a popular website for political junkies.

Articles by Jason have appeared in over 50 newspapers and magazines across the United States including The Washington Times, The Chicago Tribune, and Forbes. He is the author of The James Miracle (2004); Christmas Jars (2005); The Wednesday Letters (2007); Recovering Charles (2008), Christmas Jars Reunion (2009); Penny's Christmas Jar Miracle (2009); The Cross Gardener (2010); The Seventeen Second Miracle (2010); and The Wedding Letters (2011).

Jason is also a popular speaker who speaks on the origin of the Christmas Jar movement, the value of service, the lost art of letter writing and many other topics. (Click here to learn more about booking Jason for your event.)

Jason has been seen on CNN, Fox News, C-SPAN, and on local television affiliates around the country.

Jason is from Charlottesville, Virginia, but has also lived in Germany, Illinois, Brazil, Oregon and Utah. In 2007, while researching Virginia's Shenandoah Valley for his novel The Wednesday Letters, Jason fell so in love with the area that he moved his family westward from northern Virginia into the heart of the Valley.

Jason is married to Kodi Erekson Wright. They have two girls, two boys, and are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fictional baptism in joy, tragedy, grief, hope, relationships and renewal, March 2, 2010

By 

Harold Wolf "Doc" (Wells, IN United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Cross Gardener (Hardcover)

A compelling emotional read--extremely realistic. Did the author personally experience sudden tragic loss, as I have? Thoughts and actions of grieving characters are REAL.. Jason F. Wright has used "The Cross Gardener", the puzzling companion during John Bevan's grief, to help lead him and daughter Lou Lou into healing, and a new life start. Survivor's grief, a REAL aspect of loss, is just one part of John's struggle. Overcoming takes time, more difficult when alone.

Struggling alone is a theme here, but the reader must carry a part of the burden of loss. Wright's mental anguish descriptions cause that. With The Cross Gardener's help, a light can be seen despite the tunnel's length. Perhaps this book best serves those who have yet to abide their own white cross. Only the compassion-less will find it shallow. It's inspirational.

Bevan's grief is set within a Virginia apple orchard. Parallels of struggle are read in "A Grief Observed" by C. S. Lewis. In Wright's new story, Bevan, literally born among road accident wreckage, is adopted by an orchard farmer. Life is good. Love with Emma Jane blooms and a second child is expected soon. Readers are immediately drawn into this harmonious family joy, requiring the reader to make their own emotional adjustments when tragedy strikes. This is not a spoiler; this portion is on the book's dustcover. The book is about the mourning of survivors...and recovery.

Lou Lou loses the will to speak while John fails in his ability to cope. Whys? What ifs? Guilty? Angry? What next? All questions the bereaved face at any age. White apple-crate-wood crosses identify losses. Whose loss? At the accident site appears Cross Gardener, a man revealed only in sparse bits. Mysterious. A literary journey that converts to an internal experience.

Is it mystery? Is it romance? Therapy? Inspiration?
IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars His Best Yet., March 2, 2010

By 

Laurie A. Paisley "between the covers" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Cross Gardener (Hardcover)

John Bevan has the family he always dreamed of. He married his high school sweetheart, has a young daughter and a baby on the way. His whole life is shattered as a result of a fatal car accident. John withdraws from life as he deals with his tragic losses. He places two crosses at the scene of the accident and visits on a daily basis. One day when returning to the scene he notices a stranger painting the crosses. He engages the stranger, only known as the cross gardener, and together they begin a journey to help John heal and rediscover what's important in life. John finds that even in your darkest moments, on your saddest days and through your toughest struggles, you're never alone. There is always someone to carry you and show you the way.

I've read all of Jason's books and I think this could be his best yet. It's thought-provoking, inspirational, and spiritual but it's also a wonderful love story and has a hint of mystery. This one will stay with you long after you've closed the book and set it on the shelf.

Each and every time you drive by a roadside cross you will come back to this book. You will wonder about the lives that were lost and about the lives that were left behind. Who were they, what were their stories? It will leave you asking yourself, "Who will be my Cross Gardener and who was theirs?"

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Cross Gardener - for those who believe!, April 5, 2010

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cross Gardener (Kindle Edition)

Reviewed by J.Litman (New York)
Having read The Wednesday Letters, I was anxious to read this book. It began as a very simple story of an orphan boy growing up in a loving and hard working family. The boy grows up and marries his high school sweetheart. He continues working the family apple farm. They have a child. Everything is so sweet and loving; and then tragedy strikes. The rest of the novel is about the grieving process. If you believe in the premise that no one dies alone, then you will believe in what the author tries to convey.

At times the story gets too depressing and there seems to be no hope for the main character; that is until he meets The Cross Gardener. Who is this person? Is the gardener real or imaginary? And just when you thought you knew all the answers, you are shocked into learning the truth about life, death, love, faith, and redemption. As I always believed, time heals every wound. You have just got to keep moving on!