Dandelion Summer, Lisa Wingate
Dandelion Summer, Lisa Wingate
3 Rating(s)
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Dandelion Summer

Author: Lisa Wingate

Narrator: Jason Culp, Bahni Turpin

Unabridged: 13 hr 44 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 02/25/2020

Synopsis

“A story beautifully told, with richly drawn characters that will...make you want to laugh and cry”* from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Lost Friends and Before We Were Yours.

All her life, Epiphany Salerno has been tossed like a dandelion seed on the wind. Now, at sixteen, she must move to the low-rent side of Blue Sky Hill and work where she's not wanted: in an upscale home on The Hill.

J. Norman Alvord's daughter has hired a teenager to stay with him in the afternoons. Widowed and suffering from heart trouble, Norman wants to be left alone. But in Epie's presence, Norman discovers a mystery. Deep in his mind lie memories of another house, another life, and a woman who saved him.

As summer comes to Blue Sky Hill, two residents from different worlds will journey through a turbulent past, and find that with an unexpected road trip through sleepy Southern towns comes life-changing friendship...and clues to a family secret hidden for a lifetime.

Winner of the 2012 Carol Award for Women's Fiction from the American Christian Fiction Writers

About Lisa Wingate

We have all heard attributes given to a certain elementary teacher or teachers when an individual attains a certain high level of success. For author, Lisa Wingate, it was her very special first grade teacher in Northboro, Massachusetts, named Mrs. Krackhardt. She saw talent in a shy little girl who had just transferred into her class. She read Lisa's stories to the class, and Lisa was hooked on the attention of an audience.

Even though writing was always a career goal, Lisa Wingate had other priorities to also accomplish. She decided to wait to pursue her writing career in earnest until she had graduated college, gotten married, held a position as a journalist and technical writer, and had children. She had wanted girls, but got two boys instead, and was immediately in love with each one.

One day when the first Wingate baby was small, Lisa's grandmother came for an extended stay visit. During that visit, her grandmother was sitting with the baby, when she began to tell Lisa the story of her life. They had interrupted the planting of flower beds to go inside to quiet the baby. It was that conversation that inspired Wingate to write the story, "Time for Tending Roses", which turned into her first mainstream novel, Tending Roses.

Today, Tending Roses, was the first of several books inspired by life and written during stolen moments of a busy mom, wife, and writer. She has said.......who knew all of that would come from a quiet afternoon with grandma and an unfinished flower bed?

Even though Tending Roses is her sentimental favorite, Lisa has treasured every book because they always begin with an inspiration from life, and she never knows where that inspiration will lead her in story.

The best thing an aspiring author can hear from a reader of their work is.......I wonder what happens next?

Reviews

Goodreads review by Laura

What a wonderful book! This is my first book by Lisa Wingate, but it will not be my last. I know I’ve said it before, but I’m a character-driven reader, and this book has two wonderful characters. Epiphany is a teenager who doesn’t quite fit in anywhere. Her mother never wanted her, and for her sixt......more

Goodreads review by Donna

I literally stayed up until 4:00 in the morning reading Dandelion Summer all the way through. (Didn't have to work the next day!) Wonderful, wonderful book. The development of the relationship between Epiphany and J. Norm touched me deeply. I never had a relationship with either of my grandfathers,......more

Goodreads review by Robin

When I first opened Dandelion Summer, I wasn't quite sure what to think. An old white guy and a young, self-described "toffee-colored" girl. What could they possibly have in common? Wow, was I in for a surprise. The characters in this book are so real, so stubborn, and ultimately, so willing to grow......more

Quotes

Praise for Dandelion Summer
 
“A rare gem of a book....It's a story beautifully told, with richly drawn characters that will squeeze your heart and make you want to laugh and cry at the same time.  Like dandelion seeds, J. Norm and Epie will take root in your heart and stay with you long after you've closed the last page.”—*New York Times bestselling author Karen White
 
“A gripping and beautifully told story that crosses generations and reminds us it is love that changes our world. With both startling insight and humor, Lisa Wingate tells a story that takes the reader to the moon and back to the human heart. Dandelion Summer has a compassionate and lyrical heartbeat you won't want to miss.”—New York Times bestselling author Patti Callahan Henry

“An old man's haunting memories and a young girl's dreams merge in Lisa Wingate's absolutely unforgettable story of hope and reconciliation.”—New York Times bestselling author Sherryl Woods

“Humor, family drama and an unlikely friendship meld together to make Wingate’s latest novel shine. The author’s real strength is in her character development, giving each character a unique and likable personality—even when it’s a prickly one on the surface.”—RT Book Reviews

“Wingate roots her tender tale in hope, redemption, and family by following two engaging characters in her latest entry to the Texas-based Blue Sky Hill series.”—Publishers Weekly

More Praise for Lisa Wingate

"A master-storyteller.”—Parade

“Wingate’s novels, like those of Nicholas Sparks and Richard Paul Evans and others, takes a middle ground between Christian and mainstream fiction—uplifting, clean and inspiration but not overtly religious.”—Bryan-College Station Eagle

“A remarkably talented and innovative writer, with a real feel for human emotions.”—Linda Lael Miller

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