Books-on-Tour: The Garden of Lost Memories by Ruby Hummingbird
Updated: Feb 7, 2021
The Garden of Lost Memories is a story about loneliness that takes shape in multiple forms but essentially is the same thing. In our current environment, we yearn to embrace our loved ones that we haven’t seen in over a month or more. I look forward to chatting over a glass of wine with my book club friends. But there are those who are isolated for various reasons that are feeling the pangs of loneliness now more than ever. The story of Elsie and Billy becoming unorthodox friends in a time in their lives where having a friend is of the utmost importance is a heartwarming book inspires those stuck in their old ways to take risks and let others in and when doing so, can help one grow.
3 out of 5 rating.
Here's a description of the story:
Just because you feel ordinary doesn’t mean you aren’t extraordinary to someone else.
Sixty-two-year-old Elsie knows what she likes. Custard creams at four o’clock, jigsaw puzzles with a thousand pieces, her ivy-covered, lavender-scented garden.
Ten-year-old Billy would rather spend his Saturdays kicking a ball, or watching TV, or anything really, other than being babysat by his grumpy neighbour Elsie and being force fed custard creams.
If it was up to them, they’d have nothing to do with each other. Unfortunately, you can’t choose who you live next door to.
But there is always more to people than meets the eye…
Elsie doesn’t know that Billy’s afraid to go to school now, or why his mother woke him up in the middle of the night with an urgent shake, bags already packed, ready to flee their home.
Billy doesn’t know that the rusting red tin he finds buried in Elsie’s treasured garden is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode her carefully organised life. And that when he digs it up, he is unearthing a secret that has lain dormant for twenty-eight years…
This moving tale is for anyone who has ever felt the pang of loneliness, or worried that their broken heart might never be the same again. Fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, The Keeper of Lost Things and The Library of Lost and Found will fall head over heels for this life-affirming novel that shows us that if you’re willing to take a risk, happiness is only ever a heartbeat away.