Leota's Garden

Book excerpt: “An emotionally compelling story” (Library Journal) about the devastation secrets can unleash on a family and the power of grace to bring second chances, from the New York Times bestselling author of Redeeming Love and The Masterpiece. Leota’s garden was once a place of beauty, where flowers bloomed and hope thrived. It was her refuge from the deep wounds inflicted by a devastating war, her sanctuary where she knelt before a loving God and prayed for the children who couldn’t understand her silent sacrifices. Now, eighty-four-year-old Leota Reinhardt is alone, her beloved garden in ruins. All her efforts to reconcile with her adult children have been fruitless, and she voices her despair to a loving Father, her only friend. Then God brings a wind of change through unlikely means: one, a college student with an agenda all his own who thinks he has all the answers; the other, a granddaughter Leota never hoped to know. But can the devastation wrought by keeping painful family secrets be repaired before she runs out of time? “Rivers is a master gardener . . . using poignant humor and bittersweet revelation to open hearts to reconciliation.” —Romantic Times Also available in The Francine Rivers Contemporary Collection (e-book only).