Review of book Wildflower Heart by Grace Greene

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It’s been a long time since I read a book that compelled me so strongly to get to the next page as fast as I could. Wildflower Heart is such a book. I started out using Siri to read it aloud, and as time went on, I was reading ahead of Siri on the page, and having to advance the voiceover to catch up with me. After reading almost 50% of the book this way, I finally shut Siri off, effectively firing her as my reader, grabbing the tablet, and reading the last half of the book at breakneck speed. There were interwoven themes, and images of great natural beauty to savor along the way. Challenges are grappled with, difficult communications lead to insights and opportunity, and life passages are facilitated. 

A huge time neglected home nestled among wildflowers comes back to life when a father and daughter move in, and with it, lives previously in limbo find something stirring within. New confidence arises, and rehabilitating legs reliant upon walking assistance, are soon dancing through empty rooms, an intersection of wonder about past lives with daydreams of future happiness. Kara, the main character, marvels as she discovers the house, “There were secrets here. I didn’t have the answers, and that was ok.” Some see wildflowers as weeds, but Kara is fiercely protective of their healing magic. Like a springtime awakening, life seems beautiful again, and full of potential. When Kara meets Seth, she is speechless, but now more open to the unexpected gifts life bestows. Unforeseen events propel readers deeper into the story; images painted by the author make you linger, losing track of time. Kara finds “...there were times in your life that felt like points of no returns,” yet what might seem like a bad experience, may in reality be a stepping off point for a new direction. 

The descriptions of rural Virginia’s beauty weave a spell you never want to end. The author’s intent and the readers’ engagement in the story creates a moment of past and present intersecting, a connection, and a “simple gift of solace” from a world short on sentiment, and sometimes long on heartbreak.

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