Customer Reviews

The Stone Flower Garden: A Novel

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Stone Flower Garden holds a secret that burns a hole through the innocent love of childhood. A secret of innocence and death, of betrayal and loyalty. A secret that, after a quarter of a century, one family is determined to unearth and another yearns to forget.

Burnt Stand, North Carolina holds many such secrets within its walls of marble. The Hardigree family and their quarry is the center of it all, run now by Swan Samples Hardigree, a lady to the core of her cold heart. Darl Union is Swan's granddaughter and the keeper of her shameful legacy...one that, if made public, would shatter the grand image Swan's own mother first carved out for them.

Drawn into the tangled web of deceit was Eli Wade. His family arrived in Burnt Stand when he was just a boy and he immediately lost his heart to the lonely little girl that Darl was at that time. They shared years of happiness in their own private escape...a lovely stone flower garden situated part-way between their two homes on Hardigree land. That happiness was to be shattered, however, by a secret that would itself be buried within the garden....one that would force Eli and what was left of his family out of town.

Twenty-five years later, all the key players would be drawn back and, one way or another, the truth would come out. But would it be welcomed or destroy just as many lives the second time around?

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Deborah Smith is an amazing author that enables her characters to live in such a way that makes it hard to accept their one-dimensionality. She irrevocably draws the reader in with this dramatic tale of a loyalty so fierce and demanding it destroys everyone it touches.

This book will consume the reader and, at times, leave him or her breathless....with shock, with anticipation or with sympathy. After the last page has been turned, the characters will be missed and Burnt Stand will have burned another hole....into the memory of those who won't want to leave it behind with the closing of the cover.

In 1972, ten years old Eli Wade and his family enter Burnt Stand, North Carolina by pushing their broken down car into town. Though three years younger than Eli, Darleen Union, heir to the Hardigree Marble Company that owns the town, knows they belong together. They become friends until someone murders Darleen's Aunt Clara. Though the case is not solved, everyone blames Eli's dad forcing the Wades to leave town.

Twenty-five years later Darl, a defense attorney for the downtrodden, and Eli, a very successful reformed gambler, meet again in her hometown. Though still in love, but adult style, Clara's murder keeps Darl and Eli from a permanent relationship. In front of him, she digs up her aunt's grave that she helped dug twenty-five years ago so that Eli can learn the truth.

STONE FLOWER GARDEN is filled with twists and turns so that each time the audience feels they grasp the tale, a new angle appears. This gives the story line extra oomph so that the reader has more than just a steamy southern romance. Though the era seems wrong to contain the southern dynasties that ruled one-company towns, the charm and angst of the lead characters manage to overcome that counter-anachronism. Deborah Smith provides her audience with a four-tissue box tearjerker that never eases off the high emotional tension of the plot until the climax.

Harriet Klausner

Darl Union and Eli Wade meet when they are children and immediately become soul mates and the best of friends.....Eli's father is hired as a stonecutter by Swan Hardigree, Darl's very controlling grandmother, to work in the Hardigree marble company.....Darl's great aunt Clara is murdered and at this time, Eli's family leave town.......Darl and Eli never forget each other and when they are reunited 25 years later, Darl knows that the terrible secret which she has buried in her heart must be shared with Eli. He is the only person she can trust and she hopes that he can help her.....This is a heart-tugging story and it shows the love of families, but also takes us into the dark side mystique of families.....The author pulls us into the middle of this wonderful family saga......Loved this book.

Years ago I read Blue Willow. It has remained at the top of my list as one of my favorite books of all-time. With The Stone Flower Garden, Deborah Smith has added another favorite to my list.

Hmmmm. I have no idea why this book was in my TBR pile. As far as I can tell, the only thing I've read by Deborah Smith previously is the first two or three Mossy Creek anthologies, and I doubt I'd have bought a book based on that.

Darleen Union and Eli Wade meet as children when the town princess defends the dirt-poor newcomer from bullies. Darl's family owns the Hardigree marble company, which owns the town, and when Darl's grandmother, the matriarch, learns about the Wades, she gives Eli's father a job, and the family a house to live in. When Eli's mathematical genius becomes evident, she puts him to work, too, training him and offering him an education.

Darl and Eli become close friends, and as they grow up, the friendship shows signs of developing into something more. Then Darl's aunt Clara, the black sheep of the family, arrives and makes everyone nervous and upset until she's killed and Eli's father is blamed, and the family leaves town in disgrace.

Twenty-five years later, they're reunited when Eli's sister is determined to find out who really killed Clara, and to clear their father's name. In the process, a lot of secrets people have killed to keep are revealed.

This is a very intensely emotional story, and one that's quite easy to get caught up in. The deep friendships, and the heavy weight of secrets permeate the story from the beginning. The characters are wrenched with guilt and shame, torn by love, and tend to waver between tyranny an martyrdom.

Ultimately, it got to be a bit much for me. I enjoyed the story and the emotional ride up to a point, then I hit emotional overload, and I just wanted it to be over. I admit I have a low tolerance for emotional intensity, so YMMV.

I'll probably look for more Deborah Smith books, though--I like reading something intense and complex like this, just not all that frequently.

Darleen Union and Eli Wade were childhood friends in Burnt Stand, North Carolina, who were torn apart by a murder that appears to point to Darleen's father as the prime suspect, but Eli's family leaves town in disgrace. Raised by her controlling grandmother, Darleen is the heir to the Hardigree Marble Company, which controls the town and Eli is the boy genius destined to make something of himself when his family is forced to leave. But now, years later, long-buried secrets are about to be dug up when Eli returns. This is a book full of page turning suspense, plot twists and characters that I fell head over heals for. A riveting read.

Although the contrived plot was a bit implausible and the awaited climax drawn out to the point that the reader is cognizant of what it will be long before its arrival, still the portrayal of characters and the story line were interesting.

The first time I've read Ms Smith's - 'The Stone Flower Garden'. I've enjoyed it to the point of not wanting to put it down. A romance with a lot of mistery and intrigue, and a lot fo forgiving.
A good blend of first and third person narrative (new to me).
Very entertaining. I shall look for more of her books.

I read this because it was a free Kindle book, but I wouldn't bother again. It was rather like a souped-up Harlequin romance. Very predictable and badly in need of an editor. Grammar, spelling and punctuation errors all over the place. However, the story was somewhat interesting so I give it two stars.

This was a beautiful story and I really loved it. I felt like I was falling in love and having my heart broken only to love again. She captured true emotion and I will definitely buy her other two books.