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Interesting,
Dramatic,
Confusing

4 reviews

The Red Garden
by Alice Hoffman

Published: 2011-01-25
Hardcover : 270 pages
20 members reading this now
18 clubs reading this now
11 members have read this book
Recommended to book clubs by 3 of 4 members
The Red Garden introduces us to the luminous and haunting world of Blackwell, Massachusetts, capturing the unexpected turns in its history and in our own lives.
���� In exquisite prose, Hoffman offers a transforming glimpse of small-town America, presenting us with some three hundred years ...
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Introduction

(The Red Garden introduces us to the luminous and haunting world of Blackwell, Massachusetts, capturing the unexpected turns in its history and in our own lives.
���� In exquisite prose, Hoffman offers a transforming glimpse of small-town America, presenting us with some three hundred years of passion, dark secrets, loyalty, and redemption in a web of tales where characters' lives are intertwined by fate and by their own actions.
���� From the town's founder, a brave young woman from England who has no fear of blizzards or bears, to the young man who runs away to New York City with only his dog for company, the characters in The Red Garden are extraordinary and vivid: a young wounded Civil War soldier who is saved by a passionate neighbor, a woman who meets a fiercely human historical character, a poet who falls in love with a blind man, a mysterious traveler who comes to town in the year when summer never arrives.
���� At the center of everyone's life is a mysterious garden where only red plants can grow, and where the truth can be found by those who dare to look.
���� Beautifully crafted, shimmering with magic, The Red Garden is as unforgettable as it is moving.

Editorial Review

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Excerpt

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Discussion Questions

Suggested by Members

Discuss how the folklore and legends originated and over time were forgotten or evolved into positive things for Blackwell.
Discuss the tragedies in the story and how the different characters resolved the conflicts.
What was the symbolism of the Red Garden, the red soil, the red flowers, the red harvests?
by ccroft78248 (see profile) 04/16/15

There are certain things that appear in most of the stories. What is the signifigance of the bears? the eels? the garden?
by l0ve2READ (see profile) 02/26/14

Notes From the Author to the Bookclub

No notes at this time.

Book Club Recommendations

For the book club discussion
by ccroft78248 (see profile) 04/16/15
Use a flip chart to make a family tree and to list the things that happen in the red Garden.
Many ways to go with this
by l0ve2READ (see profile) 02/26/14
Have each of your members talk about their favorite story and let the discussion proceed from there. A neat favor could be some sort of seeds that will yield red flowers. If you're serving food, it would be sort of obvious to do everything in red : tomatoes, strawberries, radishes, red leaf lettuce, apples, red tea, red velvet cake, tomato sauce on pasta...
food something red
by tonyafaye (see profile) 05/14/11

Member Reviews

Overall rating:
 
 
by Christy E. (see profile) 10/06/20

 
by Margaret C. (see profile) 08/23/18

 
by tresa s. (see profile) 12/02/16

 
  "A fun quick read"by Carolyn C. (see profile) 04/16/15

This was a great book if you are just reading for enjoyment. It was like following family history and local legends and folklore. The reader is introduced to the actual event, and then a generation later,... (read more)

 
  "Great Set of Short Stories"by Susan R. (see profile) 02/26/14

The Red Garden is made up of many stories that each connect to the other in some way. Many characters are mentioned several times and the stories are told chronologically, from a determined woman who refuses... (read more)

 
  "interesting"by tonya t. (see profile) 05/14/11

I loved how this book started in the 1700's and spaned till the late 1900's. Each Chapter is a period of time in a differnt persons life but all related somehow.

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