Review: Where Lilacs Still Bloom by Jane Kirkpatrick

paperback 367 pages

It's been awhile since I could actually sit down and read a book.  I have had this book sitting on my night stand for awhile now and today I was determined to find the time to finish it today.  I was very glad I did!

Where Lilacs Still Bloom is a story that is based on a real person and real events.  Hulda Klager was an immigrant from Germany with only an eighth grade education.  She has a gift and a desire to create something beautiful.  She starts out wanting to create a crisper, easier peeling apple for pies and develops a passion for plant hybridization.  She wishes to create different colors of lilacs, and also lilacs with different numbers of petals.  Though she is at times at odds with her people in her community and even on occassion her family, her dedication and determination continues to drive her.  Even when the flood waters threaten to destroy her garden more than once and her family faces several tragedies, Hulda's work to create something new and beautiful still carries on.

" Beauty matters....it does.  God gave us flowers for a reason.  Flowers remind us to put away fear, to stop our rushing and running and worrying about this and that, and for a moment, have a piece of paradise right here on earth."

I loved Where Lilacs Still Bloom!  It is a wonderful story of a courageous, dedicated woman who desired to use the gift God gave her to make this world more beautiful.  It is a wonderful story of a family, who through good times and bad, drew together and supported each other and a woman's dreams.  Many lessons about faith, love, and life are woven through the pages of this book.  One of things I loved the most was the love and support Hulda received from her husband, Frank.  In the beginning of the book, Hulda's father tells her to keep her plans a secret from Frank.  " Frank discourages you.  I see it Hulda.  He dismisses your interests if they go beyond your children and him."  But, Frank proves those statements false over and over again.  Even though he doesn't always understand everything Hulda does or why, he always supports and encourages her, often making sacrificing his own wants for hers.  Their love and support of each other and their family continues to carry on throughout the book.  It was beautiful to read.  Where Lilacs Still Bloom is one of those books that I am better off for having read.

I received a complimentary copy of Where Lilacs Still Bloom from Waterbrook Mulnomah for the purpose of writing a fair and honest review.  I received no other compensation.