{"product_id":"a-victory-garden-for-trying-times-9781459745056","title":"A Victory Garden for Trying Times","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA compelling and intimate reflection on love and grief and ordinary things that comfort and sustain us.\u003c\/b\u003e  Alison Smith, award-winning journalist\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEver since her childhood on a Niagara farm, Debi has dug in the dirt to find resilience. But when her husband, Peter, was diagnosed with cancer in November, it was too late in the season to seek solace in her garden. With idle hands and a fearful mind, she sought something to sustain her through the months ahead. She soon came across Victory Gardens  the vegetable gardens cultivated during the world wars that sustained so many.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDuring an anxious winter, she researched, drew plans, and ordered seeds. In spring, with Peter in remission, her garden thrived and life got back on track. But when Peter''s cancer returned like a killing frost, the garden was a reminder that everything must come to an end.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eA Victory Garden for Trying Times\u003c\/i\u003e is a personal journey of love, loss, and healing through the natural cycle\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt sounds paradoxical to say that I found this profoundly sad story buoyant, but I did. To borrow from the title, this \u003cb\u003ebeautifully written memoir\u003c\/b\u003e balances between 'trying times' and 'victory,' between the pain of Peter Kavanagh's cancer and the inspiring courage and optimism of the couple. And through it all runs Goodwin's garden — a retreat, a symbol of hope and a reminder that our life, like her gorgeous vegetables, has a beginning and an end. * Katherine Ashenburg, author of Sophie \u0026amp; Cecilia *\u003cbr\u003eA compelling and intimate reflection on love and grief and ordinary things that comfort and sustain us — like getting your hands dirty. A timeless journey for anyone who finds beauty in the light that filters through a canopy of trees or the damp sweet smell of freshly turned earth. * Alison Smith, award-winning journalist *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eVictory Garden for Trying Times\u003c\/i\u003e is about gardening the way Izaac Walton's \u003ci\u003eThe Compleat Angler\u003c\/i\u003e is about fishing or Herman Melville's \u003ci\u003eMoby Dick\u003c\/i\u003e is about whaling. Much of this story is about cloves and carrots and tomatoes and weeds and such. But it's also a touching love story that will break your heart. The Victory Garden of the title refers to vegetable patches ordinary people cultivated in wartime. Researching, planning and eventually cultivating her own backyard modern Victory Garden was a hobby that became a backdrop for the larger story: the desperate battle her husband was waging against cancer. The parallel tale is the intriguing history of the real wartime Victory Gardens. And sprinkled throughout are actual tips on gardening. But, it’s essentially a story of the heart, with \u003cb\u003ea sweet and compelling mix of grief and tenderness\u003c\/b\u003e. * Dan Bjarnason, author of Triumph at Kapyong *\u003cbr\u003eA moving recounting of love and loss and the attempt to find solace though a 'Victory' garden. The name is sadly ironic at first, and then becomes a form consolation in the end. I read the second half of this heartbreaking memoir in one sustained session because I needed to know the details of how the story ended. After setting it down, I thought about the book all evening and over breakfast the next day. This powerful afterlife of a book in the reader's mind is a sign of its great power — I enjoyed it immensely. * Antanas Sileika, author of Buying on Time *\u003cbr\u003eDebi Goodwin has written a poignant memoir that tears away at your heart. Yet she writes with such sensitivity and a keen eye about her garden and how it ushered her through bad times with refreshing insight. You will want to read it more than once. -- Marjorie Harris, garden writer and designer in Toronto\u003cbr\u003eWith bare sincerity, Debi Goodwin takes us through the struggle of her winter, to spring seedlings unfolding with hope, to the longing for summer in the midst of summer. And when the light shifts in autumn, she sheds new meaning on \u003ci\u003evictory \u003c\/i\u003eitself. * Jackie Kai Ellis, bestselling author of The Measure of My Powers *","brand":"Dundurn Group Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51863287890263,"sku":"9781459745056","price":14.24,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781459745056.jpg?v=1759920188","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/a-victory-garden-for-trying-times-9781459745056","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}