Wildflower Hill [Paperback]

Kimberley Freeman (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 23, 2011

SPANNING THREE GENERATIONS AND HALF THE WORLD, WILDFLOWER HILL IS A SWEEPING, ROMANTIC, AND COMPELLING STORY OF TWO WOMEN WHO SHARE A LEGACY OF SECRETS, HEARTBREAK, COURAGE, AND LOVE.

Emma, a prima ballerina in London, is at a crossroads after an injured knee ruins her career. Forced to rest and take stock of her life, she finds that she’s mistaken fame and achievement for love and fulfillment. Returning home to Australia, she learns of her grandmother Beattie’s death and a strange inheritance: a sheep station in isolated rural Australia. Certain she has been saddled with an irritating burden, Emma prepares to leave for Wildflower Hill to sell the estate.

Beattie also found herself at a crossroads as a young woman, but she was pregnant and unwed. She eventually found success—but only after following an unconventional path that was often dangerous and heartbreaking. Beattie knew the lessons she learned in life would be important to Emma one day, and she wanted to make sure Emma’s heart remained open to love, no matter what life brought. She knew the magic of the Australian wilderness would show Emma the way.

Wildflower Hill is a compelling, atmospheric, and romantic novel about taking risks, starting again, and believing in yourself. It’s about finding out what you really want and discovering that the answer might be not at all what you’d expect.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'A gorgeous story of family and secrets and the redemptive power of love.' Kate Morton, bestselling author of The Distant Hours and The Forgotten Garden

“The novel's strength instead lies in Freeman's complex characters--capable of love and hate, shame and redemption. Both Beattie and Emma find themselves having to start over, and it is for these two women that readers cheer and sympathize.” –Publishers Weekly

By the last satisfying scene, you may find yourself reluctantly parting with old friends who will live on once the cover has closed. Highly recommended.” –Historical Novels Review

About the Author

Kimberley Freeman was born in London and grew up in Brisbane, Australia. The author of Wildflower Hill, she teaches at the University of Queensland and lives in Brisbane with her husband and two children. Visit her website at KimberleyFreeman.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; Original edition (August 23, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1451623496
• ISBN-13: 978-1451623499
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (85 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #50,918 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kimberley Freeman is an Australian author of contemporary women's fiction, who has an alter-ego as a fantasy writer under her real name Kim Wilkins. She has a PhD in English and teaches on faculty at the University of Queensland. When she's not writing, that means she's asleep.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 52 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful, touching story. My favorite book read this year. August 18, 2011

By Book of Secrets VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Wildflower Hill is a poignant tale of two women living in different decades but whose lives are strongly intertwined. I dearly loved this book! The story of Beattie and her granddaughter Emma was completely absorbing. Beattie was a Scottish immigrant who moved to Tasmania, Australia, at the start of the Great Depression. Someone had told her once that "there are two types of women in the world...those who do things, and those who have things done to them." As a poor, unwed mother, she kept that thought in the forefront of her mind as she struggled against poverty and prejudice. Against insurmountable odds, she became the owner of a prosperous sheep farm in rural Tasmania, though it was not without great hardship and heartache.

Set in 2009, Emma's story is effortlessly woven in with Beattie's. Emma is a prima ballerina in London. Proud of her success as a dancer, she didn't realize how it had totally consumed her life until a knee injury put an end to her career. Left with no other options, she returns home to Sydney. Emma is told that she has inherited a farm in Tasmania that her grandmother ran in the 1930s. Beattie had not been there for many years and used the place for storage, so Emma decides to head south to clean out the place in order to sell it. Upon arrival Emma finds boxes and boxes full of Beattie's old possessions, including letters, photos and business records. As Emma sorts through everything, she slowly uncovers family secrets buried for decades.

I have not been moved by a book quite so much in a very long time. I really enjoyed the author's writing style, including the rich descriptions of the settings. It was easy to picture myself there too. Wildflower Hill stirred up many emotions for me - heartache, joy, anger, and frustration. Ultimately it is a very inspirational story about the power of perseverance and realizing what is truly important in life. Both Beattie and Emma were strong female characters written in a way that I felt like I was sharing their experiences with them. I loved how important parts of the story were told through old-fashioned letters. The last letter written by Beattie that Emma finds had me sobbing. The ending was bittersweet and very satisfying. I would highly recommend Wildflower Hill to fans of women's fiction. It is a story that will stay with me for a long time.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wildflower Hill is a wonderful read that I highly recommend. August 31, 2011

By Wendy L. Hines VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Emma is a world-renowned ballerina - she knows no other life, nor does she desire one. But when a fall ends her career, she doesn't know what to do. Her whole life has been revolved around dance, her boyfriend recently broke up with her and she has only a handful of friends - all dancers. She goes home to her parents and learns that she inherited a sheep ranch from her late grandmother. She decides to go to Tasmania, a small community, and clear out the house's contents so she can sell it.

There, she begins to unpack items from hundreds of boxes of her grandmother's life, pieces of a puzzle that she can't seem to reconnect. She makes new friends, helps a studio of girls with Down syndrome with ballet and begins to find herself again.

Meanwhile, the story flashes back to Beattie, Emma's grandmother. Her troubles when she is young, falling in love with a dashing married man. When her mother finds out Beattie is pregnant, she tosses her out. With no help from Henry, she goes to a home for unmarried women. Her shame is great, but when Henry appears, she is delighted. They run off together and begin to make a new life with their infant daughter, Lucy. But Henry drowns his troubles with liquor and Beattie can't live that life anymore, so she takes Lucy and escapes. She begins to pick up the pieces of her life again and eventually wins a sheep farm in a poker game.

However, her troubles are only beginning. Henry returns for Lucy, but this time with his wife. She decides to split custody with them, even though it breaks her heart. But finding her greatest love helps her with their separation, until her greatest love dies and Henry takes Lucy and doesn't tell Beattie where they have gone.

Between Beattie's unique and heartbreaking life and Emma trying to find herself and what she desires in her heart for the future, Wildflower Hill is a magnificent saga that will find a place within your heart. Beattie's fashion designs and her determination build the foundation for the new generation. Emma's story was solid but I found myself immersed with Beattie's story. The struggles she went through, the heartbreak and her triumphs, she is a strong and complex character who I grew to love. Wildflower Hill is a wonderful read that I highly recommend. I just wish there was a sequel! I would love to spend more time with these characters.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Wildflower Hill August 29, 2011

By Story Circle Book Reviews

Format:Paperback

Wildflower Hill is a lush historical romance that doesn't have the mushiness of so many romances. This well written novel moves back and forth between granddaughter and grandmother. The sections about present day Emma, a prima ballerina in the beginning of the book, is predictable but enjoyable. The sections about Beattie, a young, pregnant English girl, are rich and full of love and dismay, courage and sorrow, daring and independence. Her story moves from her nineteenth year through her maturity and timely death.

The backgrounds, first of London with its buzz and grayness, then, of a small farm community of Tasmania, are vibrant and realistic. Noticeable are the different qualities of rain in each community--London being oppressive and the countryside of Tasmania at the bottom of the world being nurturing. The contrast continues within Emma's emotions as she travels from one country to the other.

Freeman does a fine job developing not only her main characters but her minor ones as well. She gives us an authentic feel for both London and Tasmanian society in the 1930's. Tillie Harrow, the small town storekeeper, for instance, represents the prejudices of the time while being a strong if unsympathetic example. Henry, a major character through the novel, Beattie's lover and father of Lucy, is believable as a weak, most often kind gentleman.

Wildflower Hill is a lovely read, difficult to put down, once begun.

by Judith Helburn
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women