Shirley P. (booknookchick) reviewed on 7/26/2006 + 117 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Some readers might find this story sentimental and sappy. In contrast the story is chock full of wisdom. Get over that hurdle, and try one more. You will be relentlessly reminded that "it's the simple things that are important" and "family comes first". Overlook these flaws and you will discover an enjoyable story.

The characters, like us humans, are flawed but likeable. The main character, Grandma Rose, now a widow, has been living alone on the family farm. Even her independent streak and her feistiness can't hide the fact her health is faltering. Her granddaughter, Kate, returns to the farm to care for Grandma until the rest of the clan arrives for Christmas holidays. Grandma's persistence can be annoying, but aren't most grandmother's that way?

Most of the book revolves around the relationship that develops between Kate and the matriarchal Grandma Rose, propelled by short stories Grandma writes about her past and leaves unattended for Kate to discover. Having lived through the loss of my parents and in-laws to old age, I could identify with Grandma's feelings about having more to look back on than to look foreword to especially since she is the only remaining elder relative and coping with the onset of failing health.

Grandma's relationship with a little girl, Dell, who lives in a poor neighborhood with her own ailing grandmother, is a significant part of the story. Grandma, like Dell, had a childhood filled with desperation and hardship. Dell reappears as a teenager in the book, "The Language of Sycamores."

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