Customer Reviews

The Language of Sycamores (Tending Roses, Book 3)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is the follow-up of Tending Roses and Good Hope Road. This book also combines the main characters' stories into one ~~ Jenilee of Good Hope Road meets up with Kate and Karen of Tending Roses as they try to discover their family heritage. This book, however, focuses on Karen, the super successful one of the family. Karen who is so perfect, dresses like a fashion model with her immaculate hair, a dashing career that takes her everywhere and happily married to a dashing airline pilot. In Tending Roses, Kate shared some of her resentments of her perfect older sister.

In this book, the perfect older sister just got laid off from her successful job and her annual pap smear came back with an abnormal reading. Desperate to get away from Boston, Karen came to the farm in Missouri to get away from it all for a few days. Only that few days turned into a couple of weeks. Involved with JumpKids, a local community group that involves kids into making a production of a famous movie, and mentoring the neighbor girl, Dell, who was Grandma Rose's protege, and rediscovering her marriage again to James.

Written beautifully and with elegant prose, this book is a great sequel to my other two favorite books of all time. The message is essentially the same: Take your time, smell the roses and forgive your grudges. Life is too short to hold grudges and bitterness. This is an awesome book for moms to give to their daughters, sisters to give to one another and friends to share. It is a book that is poignant of a time past when things seem to be simpler and the answers were clearer. It reminds us that after all of the things that has to be done in the day, it's better to have family around.

1-11-05

THE LANGUAGE OF SYCAMORES by Lisa Wingate
March 11, 2005

Courtesy of WWW.LOVEROMANCES.COM

The third book in a trilogy by Lisa Wingate, THE LANGUAGE OF SYCAMORES is a beautifully written story about a woman who finds herself at a crossroads in life.

Karen Sommerfield receives news that she is being laid off, despite years of loyalty and the fact that she helped build the company to what it is today. She also receives bad news that a cancer that she thought she would not see again has returned. Her doctor has asked her to make an appointment as soon as possible, as he thinks that the initial test results are pointing towards the return of this disease, but he is not one-hundred percent sure. Karen, not wanting to deal with this possibility, decides it's a good time to take up her sister Kate's invitation to return home to Missouri, in time for a small family reunion.

Karen has not been home in ages. One of the reasons she has stayed away from her hometown was the death of Grandmother Rose two years ago. Rose was a big part of Karen's life, and her death was something Karen could not accept. Going home brings back many happy memories of a woman Karen had loved more than she had loved anyone. The thought of being in the home that reminded her so much of her beloved grandmother was difficult for Karen, but this was better than having to deal with the layoff and the possibility of cancer.

The trip back home does Karen a lot of good. She realizes how much she's missed being there. She also meets a shy insecure twelve-year old girl who lives down the road with a grandmother and uncle. It is obvious that this girl, Dell, needs a lot of love and care, and while Karen has never had children of her own, she finds herself being motherly to Dell and they become very attached to each other.

Besides getting involved with the young girl, Karen also becomes involved in a summer camp program called JUMP KIDS, and it changes her outlook on life as well as Dell's. It's a summer of fun and excitement and a newfound interest that has Karen looking forward to each day. It helps Karen forget about her lost job and her health concerns, and also opens up a brand new world.

The central theme of the book is that of family ties, and while Karen's cancer scare and her job could have been the only focus of this book, instead the story also revolves around Grandmother Rose and the legacy she left behind. Kate and Karen's relationship is also a central theme, with the two of them drifting apart due to different lives and focuses. Kate is busy with her children and a husband, having chosen the life of a housewife and homemaker. Karen and James could not have children, and focused on their careers to forget what was missing in their lives. There is also sibling rivalry and jealousy that keeps the two sisters apart, and it is their search for the truth about their family that brings them back together again.

This reviewer extremely enjoyed and highly recommends THE LANGUAGE OF SYCAMORES. Wingate has a wonderful way with words, and one word to describe her writing is "beautiful". She did a good job in setting up a backdrop that was the beauty and charm of the rural town of Hindsville, Missouri. She also has a talent for creating characters that are real and although they may have faults, the reader will want to spend more time with these fictional people, getting to know them better and wishing their story never ends. What this reviewer did not care too much for was the abrupt ending, although it did help wrap up loose ends and also solved the family mystery. It was in fact a plot twist of sorts and certainly surprised this reader. THE LANGUAGE OF SYCAMORES is a must-read. The first two books in the trilogy will certainly be on this reviewer's list of books to read in the coming year.

Lisa Wingate is the author of two of my favorite books, Tending Roses and Good Hope Road. With her newest effort, The Language of Sycamores, she brings back characters from both of these books and makes one must read story.

Karens life was about things she could program and control, but that all changed one fateful day. First, she was in the doctors office for a check up and was told that she may have cancer and later that same day, she was fired from her job due to a lay off. Spinning out of control and at a loss about what to do, she unexpectedly gets an offer from her sister Kate to come home to Missouri for a small family reunion with a long lost relative. With the help of Kate and Dell from Tending Roses, and Jenilee from Good Hope Road, Karen begins to see that her and her husband James have just been going through the motions of marriage and life without really being happy.

In reading The Language of Sycamores you will once again be inspired to change your life and feel the love of God. Settle into a quiet room and treasure this story, I know I will again and again.

I love all of Lisa Wingate's books, but I particularly enjoyed this one. Her perfect mixture of faith and authentic life situations, not to mention characters who are as real as my next door neighbors, always make for an absorbing read. I've yet to be disappointed with one of her books and I recommend them to anyone who likes their fiction sincere, well-written and believable.

When a piece of fiction is not only a page turner but also reveals truths about life, I am hooked. The Language of Sycamores deals with tough life issues--broken relationshsips, damaging pride, family, buried dreams--in the gentlest, most grace-filled ways. One of my favorite quotes comes early in the book: "The problem with ruts is that when it starts to rain, they flood easily."

This book spoke to me on so many levels. First, as a great read with a compelling story line, with interesting, realistic characters. I also loved how the author so artfully described a woman at a crossroads, who turns to her family, her roots, and her faith to find direction and a new purpose. The best books are ones you think about after the last page, and I know this one will stay with me for quite some time.

Karen Sommerfield is facing great life challenges when her 23 year job at Lansing, a big company is laying off everyone including her department. She is also at a stale point in her marriage to James, her pilot husband who works all hours. Karen had a bad miscarriage when it was discovered she had cancer at that time-and things haven't been normal since. And then, returning to her doctor for a check-up, it was again discovered she had abnormal cells again and may have cancer. Karen chooses to turn her back though, and ignore all of it.

Her sister Kate, who is very well settled on their Grandmother Rose's farm, calls Kate and invites her one of these days to come for a weekend visit. So on the spur of the moment, without thinking, Karen decides to pack her bags right then, and get out of her turmoil-even though she has some misgivings. So she leaves a message for James, and takes off.

While on the plane, she meets Keiler, a young guy who is studying at college, and possibly seminary. Karen learns that he is counselor of the Jumpkids program-a summer length program to keep kids out of trouble, and help them develop their skills in the musical arts, other arts, and theater. At the time Karen has no idea how this will touch her life when Dell comes into it.

Once she reaches Missouri, Karen can't bear to tell Kate that she has lost her job. There was always such sibling rivalry there that the two women have trouble feeling close to each other. Kate was always the best at everything, while Karen was always second best no matter what. Karen also meets Dell, the impoverished girl across the lake from the farm who lives with her Grandma who is very sickly can't really watch her, and Uncle Bobby, who is nothing but a drunkard, and treats Dell shamefully, calling her a "nigger child," since she was born of both races.

Karen hits it off with Dell right away, and sees the potential in this poor child. She has special talents for music and the arts that no one has ever cared to recognize. So Karen really takes a deep interest in Dell, and pulling some strings, inquires into the Jumpkids program through the church minister. Dell was very very low in self-esteem, and afraid to try anything new-but with much coaxing on Karen's part, she decides to try. Karen made a promise that she would be there for her the first couple days-and what happens is that Karen falls in love with this program, and becomes one of the workers herself.

After a little time, Karen along with James decide to stay in Missouri and change their lives in a new direction. The authorities are called in for Dell finally after something strange happens in her broken home, and arrangements are made for Karen and James to become Dell's foster parents. It seems that Dell is the child they always needed-and from there the child will flourish and grow in many ways.

Karen really comes down to earth in this story, and giving up her high-powered job after being called back, decides that it is better to live with much less money, yet be happier helping youth talent develop. She and Kate also have a new beginning as sisters.

I really enjoyed this book and all of Lisa Wingates books. They are not your hot and heavy romance books, but they are well written, great stories and uplifting to read.

This is the 3rd book in the series, and I suggest that you read the other 2 books first. (Tending Roses and Good Hope Road) They are independent of each other, but the stories intertwine and it nice to understand the background.

I hope Lisa continues to write. I have trouble waiting for her next book to come out.

This book is an easy, refreshing read but with depth and a strong, positive underlying message. I love the Tending Roses series and recommend this book and other Wingate novels to those closest to me.

I am always looking for new series and stumbled on this one. What a wonderful author - I plan to read all of her works.