My thoughts:
The Memory Gardener was just the kind of book that I was looking for. I wanted something with a nice setting, good characters and some hope in the plot. Note that plots of the gardening as well as the fictional are a part of the story. There is also a bit of magical realism with the main character having a special connection to scents.
Lucy had fled her small hometown after a personal tragedy. She has been living a peripatetic existence since then working as a garden restorer but moving on as each project is completed. However, Lucy has returned home to her widowed father as the story starts.
Lucy finds an ad that leads her to her next position which is fixing the neglected gardens of a senior residence. Lucy believes that her deceased mom has led her here.
Both Lucy and the reader meet many of the residents and staff of the home where Lucy becomes a change agent. All of the characters also spend time with Lucy’s delightful dog named Gully.
Lucy has a gift for recognizing scents that bring back memories for people. This once backfired spectacularly so it is only with great caution that Lucy shares scents with some of the elderly at the home. For instance, Mr. Fitz reconnects with his love of taking photos after smelling something that leads to reminiscing.
In addition to the characters mentioned above, Lucy meets a young widower and his electively mute daughter. Gully and she connect. Readers will hope that Lucy and Adam do as well.
All seems to be going along nicely until Lucy learns why she is really at the home. Will things work out? Readers will definitely hope so.
Those looking for a gentle yet engaging read will, I hope, enjoy this title as much as I did.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for this title. All opinions are my own.
Pub date: 25 November 2025
From the publisher:
Lucy Barnes is a gardener with an uncanny ability to know exactly which scent among her flowers will illuminate to a person a key from their past that might change their future. Sadly, after a tragedy ten years ago, she no longer uses her gift and has fled her hometown.
But six months after her mother’s death, Lucy awakens to find her mother’s unmistakable scent drifting over her, and she knows that she is being called home. And when a mysterious note leads her to take a job as the gardener at the Oceanview Home, a senior-living residence, Lucy finds herself wondering if there is more to her gift—and her mother’s past—than she ever knew.
Her work among the lush gardens of Oceanview Home soon awakens the entire community, unearthing memories that will forever change all who cross Lucy’s path. But not everyone is happy to see how her presence has transformed the Oceanview Home, and when a secret comes to light that threatens to shatter the entire community, the future suddenly looks uncertain. Have the memories that Lucy has unearthed awakened something wonderful…or are some memories better left buried?
About the Author
Meg Donohue is the USA TODAY bestselling author of You, Me, and the Sea; Every Wild Heart; Dog Crazy; All the Summer Girls; How to Eat a Cupcake; and The Memory Gardener. Her novels have been translated into Dutch, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, and Turkish. Meg has an MFA from Columbia University and a BA from Dartmouth College. Born and raised in Philadelphia, she now lives in San Francisco with her husband, three daughters, and dog. She is working on her next novel.
Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too! 