Leota's Garden [Paperback]

Francine Rivers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 10, 2004

Now available in softcover!

Award-winning author Francine Rivers opens a world full of vibrant characters with a powerful story of hope. In this stunning novel, Francine explores the new life that love can bring to a decaying garden of broken relationships. Through the lives of 84-year-old Leota, her granddaughter, and a college student with all the answers, Francine leads readers to ponder the value of life and truth in a way that only she can.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Acclaimed Christian fiction writer Francine Rivers's (The Atonement Child) Leota's Garden uses the image of the garden as a metaphor for the cycles of life that the characters experience. While the story revolves around a number of lives, they are all connected through Leota--an 84-year-old grandmother--and her garden, which was once a place of beauty and hope but has in recent years gone to ruin. Beginning in desolation--Leota has been neglected by her self-centered daughter, whose obsession with getting her own daughter into the best college has driven them apart--the novel slowly shows the weaving together of lives in the mysterious ways of grace: a proud and narrow-minded college student ends up learning more from Leota than he'd bargained for, and the granddaughter Leota had never been allowed to know shows up looking for some answers, and even more, looking for Leota herself. A garden blooms, the novel suggests, by getting one's hands a little dirty doing the hard work of love. --Doug Thorpe --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

God works in mysterious ways, and Leota Reinhardt's garden is a catalyst. After 18 years, her granddaughter Annie puts love for Jesus ahead of her mother's stifling demands and re-enters Leota's life. Corban Solsek, a college student needing research for a paper, volunteers to help Leota once a week. Annie's exuberance draws Leota and Corban into a project to restore the backyard garden and make it a "Victory" garden again. In the process of healing the garden, a family separated by misunderstandings and time begins to grow together once more. A couple of plot points dead end, but on the whole, this is an emotionally compelling story.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.; Reprinted edition (January 10, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 084233498X
• ISBN-13: 978-0842334983
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (137 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,023 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Francine Rivers began her literary career at the University of Nevada, Reno, where she graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in English and journalism. From 1976 to 1985, she had a successful writing career in the general market, and her books were highly acclaimed by readers and reviewers. Although raised in a religious home, Francine did not truly encounter Christ until later in life, when she was already a wife, a mother of three, and an established romance novelist. Shortly after becoming a born-again Christian in 1986, Francine wrote "Redeeming Love" as her statement of faith. First published by Bantam Books and then rereleased by Multnomah Publishers in the mid-1990s, this retelling of the biblical story of Gomer and Hosea, set during the time of the California Gold Rush, is now considered by many to be a classic work of Christian fiction. Redeeming Love continues to be one of the Christian Booksellers Association's top-selling titles, and it has held a spot on the Christian best-seller list for nearly a decade. Since "Redeeming Love," Francine has published numerous novels with Christian themes--all best sellers--and she has continued to win both industry acclaim and reader loyalty around the globe. Her Christian novels have been awarded or nominated for numerous honors, including the RITA Award, the Christy Award, the ECPA Gold Medallion, and the Holt Medallion in Honor of Outstanding Literary Talent. In 1997, after winning her third RITA Award for inspirational fiction, Francine was inducted into the Romance Writers of America's Hall of Fame. Francine's novels have been translated into over 20 different languages, and she enjoys best-seller status in many foreign countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, and South Africa. Francine and her husband, Rick, live in northern California and enjoy time spent with their three grown children and taking every opportunity to spoil their grandchildren. Francine uses her writing to draw closer to the Lord, and she desires that through her work she might worship and praise Jesus for all He has done and is doing in her life.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

86 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read! Couldn't put it down!, August 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Leota's Garden (Hardcover)

Frankly, this book surprised me. As a man who was reading a book that is primarily intended for women, I didn't think that a book about an old lady and her garden could make for much of a plot. Wrong! Francine Rivers is a masterful fiction writer who really knows how to weave a great story. Just when you think you have the plot figured out and heading in a straight line to the finish, she throws in a gentle twist that makes you blink in surprise. This is her second book that examines in depth the relationship between three generations of women (the first being The Last Sin Eater). It is a subject that Francine has obviously given a lot of thought to. Her observations of the interworkings between the generations are excellent, and the interaction between the characters totally believeable. Leota's Garden is definitely a five star work of fiction.

57 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Compelling tale of reconcillation and forgiveness, June 25, 2001

By 

Mary G. Longorio "Texasbookgirl" (Eagle Mountain, UT) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Leota's Garden (Paperback)

Leota Reinhardt only has to look out her window to see how much her life has changed. Now 84 years old, her once comfortable little house with its abundant garden shows the effects of years of neglect, just as Leota shows the effect of years of yeaars of strained contact with her daughter and son. She is not prepared for the changes that will come into her life, a granddaughter who is dertermined to follow the promptings of the Spirit, a young college student, motivated by getting a grade, touched by goodness and Leota's own indominatable spirit. Francine Rivers is well known in among Christian readers (this is the first of her books I have read) and it can be a bit disconcerting to read the characters inner dialogue with a Higher Power. The characters are well developed and evolve, not change magicly...which is good. I was worried they would all see the light and the book would end. I liked many of these characters too much to be cheated that way. I hesitated to pick this up, but I am glad I did.

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply beautiful story., October 19, 2000

By 

Ruth A. Caldwell "Highland Princess Mum" (Walnut Creek, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Leota's Garden (Hardcover)

I haven't read a story this compelling in years. The young granddaughter that hasn't seen much of her aging grandmother due to an unfortunate communication problem, finds the joy and love she has missed from her own mother. Add some interesting friends and other family members, Leota (the grandmother) soon has more company than she bargained for; and is thoroughly enjoying herself, much to her mother's disdain! Annie hangs in there with Leota, defying her mother's "orders" and finds her own balance with God in her life. I read this book in two evenings. Very hard to put it down. "Thanks Mom for giving me this book to read, and for all the happiness I experienced in my childhood".