Library Book Group

August's selection is The Heirloom Garden by Viola Shipman

No registration, open to all.

Iris Maynard lost her husband in World War II, her daughter to loneliness and, finally, her reason to live. Walled off from the world for decades behind a towering fence surrounding her home and gardens, Iris has built a new family…of flowers. Iris propagates her own daylilies and roses while tending to an heirloom garden filled with starts—and memories of her own mother, grandmother, husband and daughter.

When Abby Peterson moves to Grand Haven, Michigan, with her family—a husband traumatized during his service in the Iraq War and a young daughter searching for stability—they find themselves next door to Iris, and are slowly drawn into their reclusive neighbor’s life where, united by loss and a love of flowers, Iris and Abby slowly unearth their secrets.