Patti Hill Always Green

Always Green

Patti Hill

Bethany House, Aug 2005, $12.99

ISBN: 0764229389

Her husband Scott has been dead for twenty months, but Mibby Garrett still mourns her loss though she is starting to go out on dates as he would have expected her to do. She is more concerned for their son Ky who has been acting strange lately even for a teenager. She wonders if he misses the influence of an older male.

Mibby is elated that her stepdaughter Andrea, a San Francisco schoolteacher, is spending the summer with her, but worries that the 100 degree weather is devastating her gardening business with a customer claiming incompetence and firing her. However, even worse than a busted water heater is that her best friend Louise suffers from cancer. Praying all the time for Louise, Mibby meets Louise's son Larry who moved home to help his mother. Larry and Mibby are attracted to one another; perhaps something good can come out of something potentially bad as God works in mysterious ways.

ALWAYS GREEN, the sequel to the first Garden Gates tale LIKE A WELL-WATERED GARDEN, returns much of the cast from the previous novel. This fine family drama focuses on a wonderful protagonist struggling with teen angst, budding romance and associated guilt, her business tottering near ruin, and the health of her best friend. Through all this Job-lite woes, Mibby keeps an optimistic attitude for fear of letting down her loved ones who depend on her for inspiration. She wonders who will she turn to though Larry applies for the job, but Mibby doubts they are suited for one another, Mibby is a strong character who keeps the deep poignant yet gentle story line focused. Patti Hill provides a wonderful healing of love story.

Harriet Klausner