Tending Roses

By: Lisa Wingate

Narrated by: Allyson Ryan

Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

From the number-one New York Times best-selling author of The Book of Lost Friends and Before We Were Yours comes a heartfelt novel about the bonds of family and the power of second chances.

When Kate Bowman temporarily moves to her grandmother’s Missouri farm with her husband and baby son, she learns that the lessons that most enrich our lives often come unexpectedly. The family has given Kate the job of convincing Grandma Rose, who’s become increasingly stubborn and forgetful, to move off her beloved land and into a nursing home. But Kate knows such a change would break her grandmother’s heart.  

Just when Kate despairs of finding answers, she discovers her grandma’s journal. A beautiful handmade notebook, it is full of stories that celebrate the importance of family, friendship, and faith. Stories that make Kate see her life - and her grandmother - in a completely new way...

©2003 Lisa Wingate (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Richly emotional and spiritual, Tending Roses affected me from the first page. A story at once gentle and powerful about the very old and the very young, about the young woman who loves them all. In Kate, Lisa Wingate has created a wonderful character.” (New York Times best-selling author Luanne Rice)

“Wingate’s touching story of love and faith proves the old adage that we should take time to smell the roses and try to put our modern problems in perspective.” (Booklist)

“You can’t put it down without...taking a good look at your own life and how misplaced priorities might have led to missed opportunities. Tending Roses is an excellent read for any season, a celebration of the power of love.” (El Paso Times)  

So Boring....sorry Lisa Wingate

After listening to "Before We Were Yours", I was very anxious to explore more of this authors works. She has many titles to choose from and I read through most of the reviews. None had the same response as "Before...", but I still decided to give one more of her books a try. "Tending Roses" was even narrated by the same artist as "Before..." which I quite enjoyed, not the case with "Tending Roses". And the existing reviews seem to have a similar theme: either people said that it was a heartwarming story filled with life lessons, or it was too sappy. I"m about 8 chapters in, and at this point I would be happy to find even the sappiness. This story is just so incredibly boring. There is just nothing there. I'm struggling to predict even any upcoming plot or point. Why does she keep finding her Grandmother's journal in random places? And why does she read it? I though journals were supposed to be private...just because you find someone's journal doesn't mean the person has inadvertently invited you to read it! What ever happened to respect and integrity?? The main character (I don't even remember her name, and I listened to a chapter today!) is so whiney and seems like she doesn't even want to be at the Grandmothers house. No chemistry or connection with her spouse. Is the Grandmother grouchy or kind?? It's just very inconsistent for me. The only thing that is consistent is the problems with her infant son's medical bills, which that seems to be the only thing she is concerned about! The narrators version of the Grandmother's voice is annoying, and honestly I don't really care for the main characters voice either. I gave that portion 2 stars only because she did perform several voices. I know that is sometimes takes a bit for a novel to get rolling along, but I don't think I am interested enough in these characters to keep listening. It's just blah and boring.

SAD ENDING... 🤗

Very Sad Ending but Very well done Ending too... The whole story was Very good... There is a part 2 book...
I will purchase the 2nd Book to this.... Because this story was well written... I just Don't want the next one to dwell on death that much.... I have enough grief of my own with death.... I hope you enjoy this book as I did ...

Not Lisa’s best

I just did not like this book. I found the characters one dimensional, and the story overly sentimental. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen. It never did. I did like the narrator though; she handled several characters with skill.

BORING

This book was so painfully dull, I don’t even know how I got through it. And the narrator’s nasally voice while speaking as the grandmother grated on my every nerve. Do not waste your time.

Loved it!

This was not only a great story, but the narration was good too. Loved hearing the different voices. This was another book I couldn’t wait to get back too. A lot of lost life lessons/advice included in the story, which was great.

Beautiful and uplifting story of living our goodbyes

I Love Lisa Wingate’s books - commend this to others. It’s both thought provoking and entertaining.

This book lacks depth. It is a stereotyped story of the aging and death of a grandparent. Very disappointing .

This book lacks depth. It is boring and disappointing. There is no creativity in the writing.

Family

I love this story so much thank you for sharing this! It has been healing for me to listen to this wonderful story of family.

Narrator

Returned book after a few chapters in.
Did not like the narrator voice and couldn’t seem to get into the book.

Emotional roller coaster.

such a great story, Sad but also teaches you what really matters in life.i really liked how the story was explained, all the grandma stories. This story teaches you the value of life and family, don't focus so much on material thing and help one another.

Gentle Beautiful Reflective

gentle beautiful reflective. slow moving but moving and thoughtful. makes you evaluate life's priorities and meaning along with Kate.