Viola Shipman

The Heirloom Garden Lib/E Viola Shipman

Iris Maynard lost her husband in World War II, her daughter to loneliness and, finally, her reason to live. Walled off from the world for decades behind a towering fence surrounding her home and gardens, Iris has built a new family...of flowers. Iris propagates her own daylilies and roses while tending to an heirloom garden filled with starts--and memories of her own mother, grandmother, husband and daughter. When Abby Peterson moves to Grand Haven, Michigan, with her family--a husband traumatized during his service in the Iraq War and a young daughter searching for stability--they find themselves next door to Iris, and are slowly drawn into their reclusive neighbor's life where, united by loss and a love of flowers, Iris and Abby slowly unearth their secrets. In her inimitable heartwarming style, Viola Shipman's brand-new novel follows two women, separated by a generation but equally scarred by war, who find hope, meaning and friendship through a garden of flowers. Watch for The Heirloom Garden, coming soon from Graydon House.