Published by Black Rose Writing Genres: Fiction, Mystery
Format: ARC, eBook
Grief, flowers, colors, symbolism and heartache.
“What a shame, what a sight. A good love died tonight.” – Conway Twitty
Tragedy strikes and not for the first time for Girard. His wife is missing, the car is gone, and police officers are knocking on his door. He knows his wife is missing, he does not know why, and he did not go to the police…. hmmm…. why???? He and his wife have been happily married; he gives her a flower from his greenhouse (76.4 degrees) every day. They married young but are happy, so why does he seem so unaffected by her being missing initially?
As the story progresses, Lawton begins to peel back the layers of Girard and Miriam’s story. Tragedy struck 37 years ago, and it takes some time to find out just what that tragedy was. We also learn that Girard has been having panic attacks and goes to therapy. When Stacey their daughter arrives after seeing Girard on the news, I thought things would get better…. but you will need to read to learn more. What I will say that even with less than 200 pages, this is a bit of a slow burn. For once this did not bother to me. I felt this book meandered along its way very much in the way Girard was doing in this book.
This is a book about grief, loss, heartache, secrets, love, marriage, and tragedy. The green house plays a significant role as do the colors of the flowers. The colors represent emotion such as Orange which promotes positivity and encouragement. The use of colors is a great storytelling tool for this book. Each section about the colors represents Girard and Miriam’s life and history.
When the ending comes, I was pleasantly surprised in a I-did-not-see-that-coming way.
Thank you to Black Rose Writing and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
This was a very unusual and original book. The book really shined with symbolism and I loved the color aspect. The cover is apt as well.
***Bronze Medalist in the Adult Fiction E-Book category for the 2020 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY Awards)
***Finalist in the Mystery category for the 2020 Book Excellence Awards
***Finalist in the Fiction category for the 2020 Next Generation Indie Book Awards
***Finalist in Literary Fiction for the 2020 American Fiction Awards