The Memory Garden, Mary Rickert
The Memory Garden, Mary Rickert
1 Rating(s)
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
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The Memory Garden

Author: Mary Rickert

Narrator: Tavia Gilbert

Unabridged: 9 hr 22 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 12/31/2014

Categories: Fiction, Women, Ghost, Family Life

Synopsis

Bay Singer has bigger secrets than most.Not that she knows about them. Her mother, Nan, is sure that the burden of those secrets would be too much, and that's why she never told anyone the truth … not even Bay.There's a lot that Nan has kept quiet over the years, especially those times with Mavis and Ruthie—times that were dark and full of guilt. But some secrets have a power all their own, and Nan realizes she needs Mavis and Ruthie now more than ever. When the three meet again in Nan's garden, their reunion has spellbinding effects that none of them could have imagined, least of all Bay.

About Mary Rickert

Mary Rickert holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She has published numerous short stories. The Memory Garden is her first novel. She lives with her husband in Wisconsin.

About Tavia Gilbert

Tavia Gilbert is an acclaimed narrator of more than four hundred full-cast and multivoice audiobooks for virtually every publisher in the industry. Named the 2018 Voice of Choice by Booklist magazine, she is also winner of the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. She has earned numerous Earphones Awards, a Voice Arts Award, and a Listen-Up Award. Audible.com has named her a Genre-Defining Narrator: Master of Memoir. In addition to voice acting, she is an accomplished producer, singer, and theater actor. She is also a producer, singer, photographer, and a writer, as well as the cofounder of a feminist publishing company, Animal Mineral.

Reviews

Goodreads review by SoRoLi (Sonja) ♡

Bay ist 15 Jahre alt und lebt bei der 78-jährigen Nan. Als Baby wurde Bay auf Nans Verandatreppe "abgestellt". Nan hat keine eigenen Kinder und keinen Mann, so hat sie Bay adoptiert. Sowohl Bay als auch Nan werden von der Dorfgemeinschaft als Außenseiter angesehen. Nan wird als Hexe beschimpft. Bay......more

Goodreads review by Carl

It is disappointing to sit down to write a review after a satisfying reading experience only to discover that the words that most readily leap to mind are those so stripped of meaning by overuse that they are rendered virtually powerless. Such is the nature of the hyperbolic overuse of adjectives. Wo......more

Goodreads review by Stephanie

This book is BEAUTIFUL. Haunting (both literally and figuratively), filled with wonderful characters and food and flowers. Pretty much recommending it to everyone.......more

Goodreads review by Meg - A Bookish Affair

"The Memory Garden" is the story of Nan, an eccentric woman who may or may not be a witch. One day, she finds a baby left on the steps of her home and takes her in to raise her. When Bay becomes a teenager, Nan finally believes that she needs to tell Bay her origins and that she may be more than mee......more

Quotes

“Fans of Alice Hoffman and Sarah Addison Allen will find a new passion in this atmospheric, eerie, and utterly beautiful debut. Mary Rickert walked me through a witch’s garden by moonlight, perfectly invoking a magic place where lies smell like salt, memories taste of ash and honey, and ghosts whisper their last secrets to a girl on the verge of womanhood. The Memory Garden is a mother-daughter love story, soaked with intrigue and seasoned with both regret and the most lovely kind of breathless hope. Don’t miss this one.” Joshilyn Jackson, New York Times bestselling author

“A potent brew of guilty secrets and tragic histories but also of enduring friendship and love. Add a pinch of the botanical. Serve on a luminous night faintly reminiscent of A Midsummer Night’s Eve. A totally charming, totally engaging story told by Rickert, a magus of the first order. Magic in every line.” Karen Joy Fowler, New York Times bestselling author

“The Memory Garden is a wise portrayal of the way women relate to each other, of how communities deal with their outsiders, of how secrets are held among friends, with the strands of narrative united by the garden and its flowers. But it’s also a superb fantasy novel. The supernatural elements may be as carefully measured and restrained as in a Graham Joyce novel…but the magic is real.” Chicago Tribune

“Rickert has created a slew of magical and unforgettable characters that will steal readers’ breath away. This is a great story that must be devoured in one sitting.” RT Book Reviews (4 stars)

“Unwinds the magic and mystery of a mother and daughter and three old friends, all at the fragile juncture of truth and forgiveness…Rickert can build an audience that will marvel at her witchy talents.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Rickert can build an audience that will marvel at her witchy talents.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“With its fairy-tale qualities, this debut novel is sure to charm…Readers who enjoy the magical realism of novels by Sarah Addison Allen, Laura Esquivel, and Alice Hoffman will savor Rickert’s mesmerizing and magical novel of friendship and family.” Library Journal

“[A] bewitching marvel of a book.” BookPage

“Mary Rickert’s debut novel is absolutely stunning. An emotionally complex story bridges the divide between the past and the present, between generations, and between age-old friendships compromised by a web of secrets and lies. Be prepared to fall under this novel’s strange and sensuous spell.” Christopher Barzak, author of One for Sorrow

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