From award-winning poet and author of Ghost Girls and Rabbits and Idle Hands comes a new novel about nature, grief, and the space we hold for loved ones long after death, no matter what they might have done.
Hayden Hill has always felt most comfortable with his hands in dirt, nurturing life. He designs natural spaces for others and comes home to his back yard, where he seeks refuge amidst the fruits and vegetables, flora, and shade-giving trees. When he finds himself suddenly a widower, his garden becomes the resting place for the ashes of his wife, Shelly, and he’s thrown into an unexpected vortex of pain, shock, and guilt. As Hayden struggles to survive the torment of each day and keep his landscaping company functioning, a directive in Shelly’s will leads him to the discovery of a shocking secret.
Fighting to find a path through the weeds of grief, Hayden meets his wife’s secret connections and becomes involved helping local, homeless teens cast out by their families for choosing to be who they are. Rocked by this newly discovered, complicated facet of Shelly’s life, he begins to question their marriage, her identity, his past choices, and whether anything he believed about his wife was ever true.
‘Cassondra Windwalker''s contemplative novel begins with the sudden, challenging loss of a spouse… With its deliberate reflections on grief and loss, the novel The Gardener’s Wife’s Mistress evaluates endings, beginnings, and the connectedness of humans to nature.’ ―Foreword Reviews
Genre: Literary Fiction
Hayden Hill has always felt most comfortable with his hands in dirt, nurturing life. He designs natural spaces for others and comes home to his back yard, where he seeks refuge amidst the fruits and vegetables, flora, and shade-giving trees. When he finds himself suddenly a widower, his garden becomes the resting place for the ashes of his wife, Shelly, and he’s thrown into an unexpected vortex of pain, shock, and guilt. As Hayden struggles to survive the torment of each day and keep his landscaping company functioning, a directive in Shelly’s will leads him to the discovery of a shocking secret.
Fighting to find a path through the weeds of grief, Hayden meets his wife’s secret connections and becomes involved helping local, homeless teens cast out by their families for choosing to be who they are. Rocked by this newly discovered, complicated facet of Shelly’s life, he begins to question their marriage, her identity, his past choices, and whether anything he believed about his wife was ever true.
‘Cassondra Windwalker''s contemplative novel begins with the sudden, challenging loss of a spouse… With its deliberate reflections on grief and loss, the novel The Gardener’s Wife’s Mistress evaluates endings, beginnings, and the connectedness of humans to nature.’ ―Foreword Reviews
Genre: Literary Fiction
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