Spring Has Sprung: 5 Fabulous Reads to Enjoy This Season

Spring Has Sprung: 5 Fabulous Reads to Enjoy This Season

Spring has now officially sprung, and with the change in season comes a desire to read something new and different. Our new reading list is inspired by all things reminiscent of Spring – warmth, flowers, gardens – and is bound to make you want to slow down and smell the roses… or put your feet up and read a really good book:

Weekends with the Sunshine Gardening Society by Sophie Green

Newly divorced Cynthia convinces her former best friend, Lorraine, to join the local Sunshine Gardening Society, where they meet young widow Elizabeth, and rootless, heartbroken Kathy. The four women soon discover the society is much more than an opportunity to chat about flowers.  Between pulling up weeds and planting natives, the women learn from each other that some roots go deep, and others shallow; that seeds can lie dormant for a long time before they spring to life, and that careful tending is the key to lives and friendships that reach their full potential.

This is a warm, uplifting story of female friendship, community and new beginnings from the beloved Sophie Green.

Buy a copy of Weekends with the Sunshine Gardening Society here.

Spanning two decades, set between sugar cane fields by the sea, a native Australian flower farm, and a celestial crater in the central desert, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart follows Alice’s unforgettable journey, as she learns that the most powerful story she will ever possess is her own. An astonishingly assured debut, her story of love, loss and triumph, shines with courage, heart and love.

Buy a copy of The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart here.

Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran

Cinnamon Gardens Nursing Home is nestled in the quiet suburb of Westgrove, Sydney – populated with residents with colourful histories, each with their own secrets, triumphs and failings. This is their safe place, an oasis of familiar delights – a beautiful garden, a busy kitchen and a bountiful recreation schedule. But this ordinary neighbourhood is not without its prejudices. Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens is about family and memory, community and race, but is ultimately a love letter to storytelling and how our stories shape who we are. This gorgeously layered reading group novel about the unexpected families we create around us.

Buy a copy of Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens here.

The Naturalist of Amsterdam by Melissa Ashley

When Maria becomes entranced by the plant and insect life of Suriname, she is determined to record it for herself. At just twenty years old, Dorothea decides to join her on this once-in-a-lifetime journey. The Metamorphosis of the Insects of Suriname will be Maria’s masterpiece, but ensuring its legacy – and her own survival – will become her daughter’s burden. When offered a chance of happiness, will Dorothea have the courage to take it, and risk everything her mother built?

With stunning lyricism and immaculate research, The Naturalist of Amsterdam gives voice to the long-ignored women who shaped our understanding of the natural world – both the artists and those who made their work possible.

Buy a copy of The Naturalist of Amsterdam here.

A Secret Garden Affair by Erica James

July 1981. Having caught her own fiancé in bed with her best friend just weeks before they were due to marry, Libby has fled London for the comfort of the Suffolk countryside. At Larkspur House, with its magical garden created by renowned garden designer and one-time socialite Elfrida Ambrose, and its comfortingly familiar kitchen presided over by Libby’s great-aunt Bess, she hopes to find a way to put her life back together.

But for lifelong friends Bess and Elfrida, Libby’s arrival has stirred up the ghosts of the past. And before they can help her rebuild her shattered future, they must confront their own unspoken secrets, lost loves, and tragedies…

Buy a copy of A Secret Garden Affair here.

COMMENTS

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *