Welcome to my stop on the The Garden Lady blog tour sponsored by TLC Book Tours! Thanks to TLC for the invitation!
My Thoughts:
The Garden Lady is a quirky little ditty at around 220 pages, and it packs a punch, too.
The main character, Maxie Dash, is super complex. She’s a famous beauty and fashion icon, where everyone knows her face, and she’s been married once to a photographer.
About to turn 50, Maxie decides to marry for a second time to a wealthy man she hopes will bring her peace and ease in life. She chooses the man over love; however, eventually she falls for him.
It’s never that simple, is it? Maxie’s husband has a secret to hide about his business. A big one. At the same time, Maxie becomes obsessed with gardening.
The Garden Lady is a quick and easy, engaging, fun read. I loved Maxie’s sense of humor, and I especially enjoyed all the gardening escapades because I love to garden.
I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
About the Author:
About The Garden Lady
THE GARDEN LADY by Susan Dworkin is a novel about unexpected love, the silence that becomes complicity, and the magic of redemption. Urgent and compelling, the story resonates with today’s headlines as it poses the ethical question: How do we live with what we know but choose not to think about or act upon?
Maxie Dash, the heroine of THE GARDEN LADY, is a famous beauty, a fashion icon, the face of many national TV ads. Her first husband, a world-class photographer, took nude pictures of her, which are so beautiful that they now hang in museums.
On the cusp of her 50s, Maxie decides to make one more marriage, something permanent and restful, to a rich man who will guarantee her an affluent life and future security. Amazingly she finds the perfect man. Even more amazingly, she grows to love him. Albert shares Maxie’s passion for the opera and willingly supports her favorite charities. He indulges her delight in public gardens and allows her to endow the community with their beauty. All he asks in return is that she give him her love and her unswerving loyalty and agree to know nothing — absolutely nothing — about his business.
Maxie is sustained by her best friend, the designer Ceecee Rodriguez, whom she treasures as a sister. But she is shaken by the persistent enmity of Sam Euphemia, a fierce young business executive, who suspects Albert of terrible crimes.
Add Maxie Dash to the list of great heroines of contemporary fiction. Smart, funny, enjoying every moment of her hard-won success, she ultimately faces the truth about her life, moves past denial and realizes that “her loyalty was a side effect of her greed and her greed was a crime against nature and her silence, her willful, terror-stricken silence, the true disaster.” Her attempt to turn Garbage Mountain, a New Jersey landfill, into a beautiful park is key to her redemption.
THE GARDEN LADY reads like a thriller or a binge-worthy Netflix series. Entertaining and provocative, it is packed with ethical questions, dark humor and insight and offers us a female protagonist you will never forget.
Social Media
Please use the hashtag #thegardenlady and tag @tlcbooktours.
Purchase Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound
About Susan Dworkin
SUSAN DWORKIN wrote the New York Times bestseller The Nazi Officer’s Wife, a tale of love and terror in the Third Reich, with the woman who lived the story, the late Edith Hahn Beer Other books include Making Tootsie, the inside story of the great film comedy with Dustin Hoffman and Sydney Pollack; The Viking in the Wheat Field about the eminent seed banker, Dr. Bent Skovmand; Miss America, 1945, Bess Myerson’s story; Stolen Goods, a novel of love and larceny in the 80s; and The Commons, about an agrarian revolt led by a pop star and set in the not-so-distant future. Susan was a long-time contributing editor to Ms. Magazine. Her plays are often performed in regional theatres. She lives in Massachusetts.
Find out more about Susan at her website.
Love those tulips and your sweet cat, Jennifer. Are the tulips from your garden? Glad you enjoyed this story too!
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Thank you, Marialyce! She always has to sniff the flowers! 😂 🌸 Tulips are my favorite, and I need to plant more bulbs. I just have one that is about to bloom right now, and the others are coming up. I just hope the wacky snow event today didn’t hurt them!
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That picture, Jennifer! 😍
This story sounds different and interesting. I didn’t get the impression that it reads like a Thriller. I think I’d like that. Glad you enjoyed it.
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Thanks, Laurie! ♥️ To me, it was more of a zany, witty story than a thriller. Did you get some snow today, my friend? In April?! We did!
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Was it zany? That makes it even more interesting to me. 😆
Yes!! We did get some snow, and sleet, too!! I know this might sound out of the ordinary, but I’ll take almost anything over the unrelenting southern heat. My body does not like when it gets hot and humid. I can cope better, for now, with cooler weather. My favorite is low to mid 70’s.
Have a wonderful day, Jennifer. 🤗❤️😘
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I love those temps, too, Laurie! I can even do upper 60s if the sun is out!
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Me too! 😃
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That cover is quite ominous! It definitely makes me want to learn more about the book😁
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It is a foreboding cover, Tammy, for quite an interesting book!
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Wonderful review Jen! Look at your cute little kitty sniffing the flowers! Such a camera hog!🤣Happy Tuesday my friend!!💜
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Thanks, Sus! She is definitely not camera shy! 😂 I hope you had a lovely Tuesday!
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Great blog tour, review, and cute kitty model, Jennifer! I cannot wait to read this humorous story and added it to my tbr list. Happy 😊Tuesday! 🌷🌷❤️📚😊🌻🌻😘
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Thanks, Virginia! She’s such a little model diva! I hope you enjoy the read and that your Tuesday was wonderful! 💗
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I am really intrigued by this book. What a great review!
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Thanks so much, Chrissi! It was an intriguing book!
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I like the sound of this one. I thought it was going to be something historical based on the title, but I was wrong! I’ll have to pick it up for sure. I love the pic, btw. So cute! Happy Tuesday, my friend and fab review! xoxo ♥
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Thanks, Steph! She has to sniff the flowers first before anything else can happen. 😂 Like an inspector! I hope you had a lovely Tuesday! ♥️
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You’re welcome! Lol! That’s too funny! Mine just tries to eat them. My son brought me some lilies for an early anniversary gift, and I had to put them in a closet before I went to bed because Chloe kept trying to get to them! Crazy…I did except for freezing. I thought it was spring! ❤
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It snowed here yesterday, Steph! A heavy snow but it did not stick to the roads. Now back up to almost 70 today! The kittens don’t know how to get on the counters yet, so we put the flowers there or on top of the fridge! Happy Wednesday! ♥️
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Oh my, lol. I had no idea. Yes, it’s going to be 68 here today. I wish Chloe didn’t know how to get on the counters, the top of the fridge, bookshelves, etc when she’s feeling extra adventurous because she’s managed to break some really special things. I feel like I have a toddler in the house and have to keep all my extra nice things and antiques packed away. Oh well, we love her and pets are family. Happy Wednesday, enjoy the sunshine! xoxo ♥
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Sounds charming! And how appropriate for you to read a book about gardening!🌼🌼🌼
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Thanks, Berit! It was so much fun! 🌺
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Oh, kitty suddenly looks as if she’s becoming a grown-up cat! The book sounds entertaining – it’s always fun when a book includes something you enjoy in real-life too…
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She is growing up and too fast! She is still my smallest one. I think she’s going to be a petite cat but she still has six more months of growing so we’ll see. 😊
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love your kitty in the picture 😀 I never heard of this book, but oh Gardening in a novel with interesting MC this has me interested.
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Thank you! She’s a mess! I loved the gardening elements in this book too!
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This one is new to me, but it sounds like one I’d like. Enjoyed your review, Jennifer.
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Thanks, Sophia! It was a unique and eclectic read! 🌸
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This sounds like so much fun! My mom is pretty obsessed with gardening, so I’ll have to keep this one in mind for her. Sounds like one both of us would love.
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Thanks so much, Suzanne! I was drawn to the gardening touches too! I love to work in my yard.
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Lovely presentation, Jennifer, so perfect for this story💜 I’ll definitely check it out.
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Thanks so much, Jonetta! I had to do something a little extra for a book with garden in the title! 🌺
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Excellent review. It sounds like an interesting woman.
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Thanks, Anne! She’s definitely a handful and interesting!
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Oh my goodness, it looks like she’s smelling the flowers! 😍 That has to be the sweetest picture I’ve ever seen. I’ll be adding the book as well, Jen. ❤💕 Beautiful review!
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Aww, thanks, favorite M! She loves to smell the flowers…and eat the flowers, so I have to stay on my toes when she’s not asleep! And the other two- when they are checking out the flowers too! 😂 ♥️
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Thanks for being on the tour!
Sara @ TLC Book Tours
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It’s my pleasure, Sara! Thank you for stopping by!
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Ooh, sounds cool!
And kitty with the flowers is just pure adorable ❤
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Thanks so much, Norrie! She had to give them a sniff! 😂 ♥️
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Wonderful review and gorgeous flowers!
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Thanks so much, Mackey! 💕
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I feel like Maxie sounds like she could be a cast member on one of the Real Housewives franchises! 😂 I appreciate that this seems like it would be a quicker read, too!
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Ah, that’s so true, LP! She’d be a great fit! 😂 It was a quick read for sure!
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I guess this is a good example of why you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. When I saw the cover I thought, nah, I’ll pass but then I kept reading and this mystery needs to be unraveled.
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I totally understand, Shell. This is an ARC cover, so I’m not sure what the final product will look like. This book is one-of-a-kind!
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