From Library Journal
For years, visitors to Ash Hollow, NE, have knocked on Bea Bartling's door and asked to see her famous pioneer roses, which once marked the wagon train trails. Each time, Bea hopes to see her estranged son, Nathan, but he never appears. After learning that he has been killed in an accident, Bea loses her faith in God and hardens her heart to the woman and child who appear on her doorstep weeks later. Gemma Bartling was an unwed mother with a young daughter, Paisley, when she met Nathan, and his love helped her find security again. Now he's gone, and she has pinned her last hopes on his mother. It takes a mysterious gardener, a pastor who never gives up, and the open heart of a small girl to break through the shells surrounding both Bea and Gemma and lead them back to God. Both heartwarming and melancholy, Bedford's (Harvest Dance) poignant tale will find a home in all collections.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
From Booklist
Bedford's
A Rose by the Door is a weepy tale set in a small Nebraska town. Gemma, a young woman so desperate that her plight borders on the comic, and her infallibly cute daughter arrive on the doorstep of Bea Bartling days after Bea has learned of the death of her estranged son, Nathan. Gemma claims she was Nathan's wife. Bea has never heard of her and is so full of grief over Nathan's loss that at first she can't accept Gemma and the cute kid. When she does, blessings arrive like roses.
John MortCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
