The Garden of Small Beginnings and I are in a Facebook Relationship, and our status is: It's Complicated. I'm still not sure exactly why I received this ARC in the mail. Did I enter a giveaway and then promptly forget having done so? Was it as a result of being on a list of book bloggers? I have no idea. Thus, it is a tad outside of my comfort zone, reading-wise. See, I enjoy some chick lit.. very selective chick lit. But the chick lit I enjoy is usually British, and runs to the likes of Jane Green and the lesser-known works of Sophie Kinsella, so as I unpacked and examined this book, I wondered if it was even close to my "thing." On the one hand, the cover is visually pleasing, colorful, and really lights up the pleasure buttons in the same parts of my brain that are obsessed with graphic design and typography, and is refreshingly devoid of a cartoonized couple kissing whilst surrounded by doodled hearts and flowers. On the other, I feared it would lean a bit too much toward the Eat, Pray, Love/Under the Tuscan Sun type of book for my taste. But, really: see what I mean about the cover?
Other than the cover, I love the way there are pages sandwiched between the chapters and each page features a sketch of a plant and then growing instructions for said plant, as if that page was pulled straight from a gardening manual. In addition to drawing me into the world of Lilian, a widow who has recently (against her will) become immersed in a community gardening class, rather effectively, these inserts also taught me some interesting and unforgettable facts about agriculture that provided a nice takeaway value, aside from the enjoyment the novel provided. I also really respected the way it would've been easy for Waxman to make Lilian's two young daughters simply cookie-cutter elementary school-aged girls, but instead, these characters are delightfully imbued with such distinctive personalities that I would've been able to tell their dialogue apart without attributions. The level of sarcasm and wit included in the dialogue and infused into the narrative voice really set The Garden of Small Beginnings apart from many other books of this type. In between banter about the gender identity of worms and the genitalia of whales, sappy kissing scenes just don't feel so cliche. And I like how Waxman doesn't simply gloss over Lilian's grief and loss, but truly forces her character to deal with it and illustrates just how bad it got by describing Lilian's resultant mental illness in pointed detail on several occasions.
However, there were weaknesses that particularly bothered me. Some were glaring continuity issues that distracted me from the story. Those charming between-chapter garden inserts felt as if they were written in the protagonist Lilian's voice (which is quite distinctive), but she is a professional illustrator and the book goes out of its way to say that she does not ever write any of the accompanying text for her illustrations (which have mostly appeared in textbooks up until this point), so that doesn't quite gel for me. Also, the instructor at the gardening class makes a point of saying how the participants will rotate from section to section of the community garden each week so that they can get the full range of experiences and learn how to grow all of the various plants... and then, the narrative has the characters show up and work in the same section of the garden on the exact same plants week after week for the entirety of the class. And very early in the book, Waxman makes a big deal of saying that Lilian frequently speaks aloud to her deceased husband--something which puts the reader on guard for exactly that... which, then, never happens in the manuscript.
On the whole, Waxman's treatment of mental illness is hit-or-miss for me. I appreciated how she made it obvious that dealing with Depression wasn't simply something that could be checked off of a list, but something that required maintenance. But, I wondered if someone who'd had a similar experience and reaction to Lilian's regarding her husband's death might find some of the phrasing in the book offensive. Since that isn't me, however, I can't comment on it one way or the other. The chemistry between Lilian and her new potential love interest is compelling, and, since I actually don't enjoy much romance on the page, I appreciated that it was very subtle and more about communication (verbal and non-verbal, but also mostly non-physical), than it was about the physical aspect. I felt that Waxman's treatment of the dynamic heightened my interest, and I appreciated the subtlety.
All in all, whether or not I'd recommend The Garden of Small Beginnings to you depends completely on who you are and what you're looking for. If you're in it for a gardening-themed book, I'd say jump right in with no reservations. If you like to read about professional illustrators, there might be enough to keep you engaged. If you like witty banter and subtle flirtation, you'll probably love this book. If you are into hot-and-heavy romance novels, I'd give it a pass. But, if plot inconsistencies drive you crazy, this isn't the book for you.
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