You can never go wrong with a book that leads you on a journey along with the characters and allows you to feel the broad spectrum of emotions, at least in my opinion. Katie Grindeland writes a beautifully poetic and thought-provoking novel about a family whose difficult pasts and dark secrets threaten to drive them apart. Emerson, Tillie, and Eve are forced to face their pain when a 10 yr old Native Alaskan girl named Addie comes to stay with them while her mother battles her own demons.Intertwined with brilliantly placed foreshadowing and unexpected turns, Grindeland delves into the motives of her characters with insight, driving their development in such a way that a person familiar with the human psyche can. She structures the book around the imagery of a garden and the two daughters of their parents, Adam and Eve, growing into themselves as Emerson heals and mends the relationship with her own estranged son, Michael. Delving into her own uprooting, Emerson also begins to open her heart to love the handsome and free-spirited neighbor, Henry after the death of her husband years prior.With Addie as the catalyst for their family, they all learn ways to heal within the pages of artistically and spiritually entwined depth and beauty. Grindeland’s writing style is one that makes readers pause to think, to breathe, to allow it all to sink into their hearts as they invest in each of her intentionally developed characters as well. This book inspired me and brought out things within me that I didn’t realize were there. As a writer myself, this book primed the pump of creativity that made me want to write my own stories and poems and make something beautiful of the deeply identifiable mess that is life.