The Stone Flower Garden

by Deborah Smith

A breathtaking new novel by bestseller Deborah Smith—with a story that’s equal parts mystery, history, and undying love.

For twenty-five years Darl Union and Eli Wade have held each other in their hearts. Darl and Eli were childhood friends in the small North Carolina town of Burnt Stand. Raised by her steely grandmother, Darl is the heir to Hardigree Marble Company, which controls the town. Growing up, Darl was always taught to keep her distance from the townspeople—but she couldn’t keep herself from loving Eli, a boy from the wrong side of the tracks whose father was a stonecutter for Hardigree Marble.

Eli fled Burnt Stand with his family one night after they were caught up in a mystery that years later has still never been solved. Darl’s aunt Clara was found murdered—and Darl could never tell the truth about that night without tearing her own family apart.

But a secret buried is a secret that will one day be unearthed. And Darl knows she can’t lie to Eli again. As the mystery at her family’s heart comes to the surface a second time, Darl turns to the one person who might help—if she can ever get him to trust her again.

Drawing on her “spellbinding” storytelling techniques (Booklist), Deborah Smith has woven a transfixing and heart-rending novel about the darker side of family myths, and a magical and shimmering story about love’s destiny.

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Mystery, Southern, Contemporary, Chick Lit, Ebooks

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

aka Jackie Leigh
aka Della Stone
aka Leigh Bridger

Bestselling Author
Co-founder, co-publisher
Vice-president, Editor in Chief
BelleBooks, Memphis, TN

Deborah Smith is the New York Times bestselling author of A Place to Call Home, and the No. 1 Kindle Bestseller The Crossroads Cafe, A Gentle Rain and other acclaimed romantic novels portraying life and love in the modern Appalachian South. A native Georgian, Deborah is a former newspaper editor who turned to novel-writing with great success.

With more than 35 romance, women's fiction and fantasy novels to her credit, Deborah's books have sold over 3 million copies worldwide. Among her honors is a Lifetime Achievement Award from Romantic Times Magazine and a nomination for the prestigious Townsend Literary Award. In 2003 Disney optioned Sweet Hush for film. In 2008 A Gentle Rain was a finalist in Romance Writers of America's RITA awards.

For the past fifteen years Deborah has partnered with Debra Dixon to run BelleBooks, a small press originally known for southern fiction, including the Mossy Creek Hometown Series and the Sweet Tea story collections. As editor, she has worked on projects as diverse as the nonfiction Bra Talk book by three-time Oprah Winfrey guest Susan Nethero, and the In My Dreams novella by New York Times bestselling author Sarah Addison Allen.

In 2008 BelleBooks launched Bell Bridge Books, an imprint with a focus on fantasy novels and now expanded to include multi-genre fiction--mystery, suspense, thrillers, women's fiction, nonfiction and other. In 2013 BelleBooks acquired the late Linda Kichline's paranormal romance press, ImaJinn Books, and hired legendary editor Brenda Chin, formerly of Harlequin Books, as editorial director. Chin will expand the imprint to cover a diverse mix of all romance types.

Deborah's newest books are the Crossroads Cafe novellas: THE BISCUIT WITCH, THE PICKLE QUEEN, THE YARN SPINNER, and THE KITCHEN CHARMER (2014). She released a mini-short story, SAVING JONQUILS, in March 2014. A sexy romantic novella, A HARD MAN TO FIND, is scheduled for later in the month.

Reviews

[Stephanie]

Don't get me wrong...I like a trashy romance just as much as anyone else. A poorly written romance with an absurd plot is a whole different kettle of fish, however. Want specifics? I'll give you three:

1) The hero dubs himself "Solo" -- as in "Han Solo." If someone introduced himself to me as Solo, I'd knee him in the crotch, courtesy of Chewbacca.

2) Although the love interests have known each other since childhood, the woman fails to recognize her friend after spending a torrid week together. You'd think the truth would finally dawn on her after climbing into the sack with him three times, but you'd be underestimating the author's ability to create absolutely ludicrous situations.

3) When the grandmother's death made me laugh out loud with derision, I realized this was one of the worst books I ever read. I've seen episodes of "Dynasty" that evoked more sympathy than this book.

I've read a lot of crappy books in my time, but I consider Stone Flower Garden to be the worst one I've ever read.

And for the folks who posted positive reviews for this book, May the Force Be with You.

[Maria João (A Biblioteca da João) · Rating 4 out of 5]

8,5 de 10*

Este livro representou a minha estreia com Deborah Smith. Fez-me lembrar muitas vezes os melhores livros de Sveva Casati Modignani, onde são retratadas grandes famílias com uma grande história desde há várias gerações.
Foi o caso da família dona da companhia de mármore Hardigree, chefiada por Swan, uma mulher fria e que todos temem.

Comentário completo em:
https://abibliotecadajoao.blogspot.co...

[Helena Rodrigues (Aromas de Cor ~ Livrólicos de Cá e de Lá) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Está autora nunca me desaponta! Que história, a luta entre dever, amor pela família e honra e amor para sempre... Segredos que não são para ser contados, lacrados entre mármore rosa. Agitados pelo passado que volta para atormentar Darl e Elia. Serão eles capazes de ser felizes depois do desvendar do mistério? Numa palavra: arrebatador!

[Marta Santos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deborah Smith apresenta-nos um livro com uma narrativa comovente que prende a nossa atenção desde a primeira página.
Segredos do passado, mentiras, desilusões, reconciliações, mas o mais importante o amor, são os ingredientes chave deste livro.
Com paisagens muito bem descritas, parece mesmo que estamos em Burnt Standt, na Carolina do Norte, juntamente com as personagens.
Uma vez mais, gostei muito de ler um livro da Deborah Smith.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

O primeiro contacto que tive com a autora e posso dizer que foi positivo. Gostei. Fez-me sentir um misto de sentimentos enquanto lia a história da Darl e da sua família. O final era esperado, não estivéssemos todo o livro a torcer para que assim se encaminhasse.

[M João (Livros?gosto) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Opinião no canal em:


https://youtu.be/Bphl7FKmTzM

[Liliana Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Opinião no blogue: https://a-lilianaraquel.blogspot.com/...

[Carolina Vieira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mais uma leitura encantadora!

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My all time favorite! Gigantisch mooi verhaal waar je je in kan leven. Ik zou die aan iedereen aanraden!

[Terri · Rating 1 out of 5]

Convoluted, contrived story. What should have been a star-crossed love story, this book tries every trick, but fails on them all. It starts out with the rich girl (who is always dressed all in pink) whose grandmother owns the southern pink marble town. Then the extremely poor boy comes to town with his family, which includes a 'backwards' sister, a quiet, downtrodden mother and the strong, master stone-cutter father, who just happens to be the grandson of the rich girl's g-grandmother's lover, and the son of the rich girl's great-aunt (and BTW, the aunt, who is black and the grandmother who is white, are half sister). Are you confused yet?

When the kids are about 13 years old, the father is accused of murdering the girl's other aunt (who's name is NEVER spoken in the mansion) after the aunt finds out about who the stonecutter is and tries to blackmail the grandmother (her sister).

At one point the lovers, who met as children meet again when he 'rescues' her and whisks her off to a secluded place to protect her and let her heal. He knows who she is, because he's re-invented himself (and is a multi-millionaire to boot), and kept track of her (she's been working for a group that gets Innocent men out of jail). But, of course, she doesn't recognize him, and he is going by the name of 'Han Solo'.

The girl is 'traumatized' by events perpetrated by her grandmother, and knows facts that would help, redeem the poor boy, but chooses never to reveal them to protect her grandmother, who she really doesn't respect anyway.

And on, and on, and on. The story is so bogged down it never got any
better, but I did keep reading to the end...just to make sure. Kept reading while fighting to stay awake because I couldn't believe it was so bad.

[Gillis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ik had het gevoel dat dit boek een soort van identiteitscrisis had. Het eerste en ook beste deel van het boek leest een beetje als een thriller: het verhaal draait helemaal om moord en intriges. Hoewel ik mij ook in dit deel een beetje ergerde aan het nogal vergezochte plot, kon het mij toch ook echt wel boeien. Ik bleef lezen omdat ik benieuwd was wat er zou gebeuren.

Ergens halverwege veranderde de stijl echter en kwam ik plots terecht in een kleffe, erg onrealistische romance. De fragiele band die ik in het eerste deel had opgebouwd met de personages werd hierdoor verbroken. Waar ik een aantal bladzijden eerder nog begaan was met het lot van Eli, Darl, Bell en anderen, verloor ik hoe verder ik las, meer en meer mijn interesse.
Het voelde gewoon niet meer geloofwaardig aan en ik betrapte me erop dat ik het boek niet langer las om te weten hoe het afliep, maar gewoon om het uit te hebben en aan een volgend, hopelijk beter boek te kunnen beginnen. Hoe verder ik kwam in het boek, hoe vluchtiger mijn blik over de pagina's gleed, uiteindelijk enkel nog maar 'scannend' naar de dialogen en andere echt relevante zinnen om op die manier het boek zo snel mogelijk naast me neer te kunnen leggen.

Ik blijf dus achter met een dubbel gevoel.
Zo sterk dat ik me afvraag of er hier misschien iemand (de uitgever?) na het lezen van een eerste versie van het boek de schrijfster opdroeg 'om er wat meer seks in te verwerken'... Met dit schizofrene verhaal als resultaat...

[Bronwyn Rykiert · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Hardigree family has lots of secrets, right down to their beginnings, these are revealed when Darleen Union is 10 and tragedy occurs at her home of Burnt Stand, North Carolina. Darl has been bought up by her grandmother Swan and her best friend/half sister Matilda she also has her best friend (Matilda's granddaughter)Karen.

When Eli Wade first came to town Darl decided he was hers, after all, the Hardigree women had always owned their men, Eli though did not want to be owned by anyone. The Wade’s had come to town at the invitation of Matilda who had been in love with Jasper Wade’s father. In the 3 years they were there Jasper had risen to the position of foreman at the Marble Works before the tragedy occurred when his son Eli was 13 and they were forced to leave town. What had happened changed everyone, Darl who was the heir left town to become a lawyer and her best friend left to become an actress. Darl and Eli would not meet again for 25 years, then after a lot of deliberation the truth was known to all.

I loved this story, it is passionate, compelling and Southern to the bone and hard to put down once you start.

[LadyCalico · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have become a big Deborah Smith fan and this is my favorite so far. The damaged but strong and resourceful characters, especially Eli really grabbed my heart. I felt guilty soaking page 111, the Christmas party, of my library book with so many tears--and then I got even worse on page 113. Add a murder mystery to Ms. Smith's poetic imagery and unusual, gripping characters and I found myself holding a book I could not put down. I would have to agree with the negative criticisms of this book--the same plot weaknesses bothered me as they did some other people, however, where I disagree with the negative reviewers is that I found the rest of the book so good that I could overlook those weaknesses and just really love the characters and this book.

[Carolyne Aarsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt like this was two books, but the did come together toward the end. Well written and an interesting concept. Deborah does an excellent job of portraying character, but at times I felt like there could have been a bit more 'between' the two stories. I didn't get as clear a picture of what Darl had to deal with as a result of what happened in the past. Overall, I enjoyed it.

[Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parts of this book were a little far-fetched. For instance, how could she not recognize him after spending three or four days with him? (I won't say anymore, don't want to spoil it!) However, I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick and easy read.

[Sherryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good first half that devolves to extremely mushy second half. Far from the best the author had written. Blue Willow takes that spot.

[Babete · Rating 4 out of 5]

( Aniv. 2019 )

[Tita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esta é uma história familiar e, como é expectável, as famílias guardam segredos e a família Hardigree não é excepção.
Logo no início da história, percebemos que a tia-avó da Darl, a nossa protagonista, foi assassino e o pai de Eli foi injustamente acusado do crime.
Voltamos atrás no tempo, e vamos conhecer Darl com 7 anos, a a sua vida, apesar de pertencer a uma família rica, sente-se muito sozinha, mas tudo muda quando Eli chega à cidade, com a sua família e cujo pai vai trabalhar para a empresa de mármore da sua avó. Acompanhamos a ligação entre estas duas personagens e, como são os dois narradores do livro, vamos também conhecendo melhor as famílias de ambos. Isto até o pai de Eli ser morto e este partir com a mãe e irmã mais nova.
A segunda parte do livro, passa-se 25 anos após, e reencontramos os nossos protagonistas já adultos, e percebemos que Darl se afastou da família e que vê o seu emprego como uma espécie tentar espiar a culpa de sente.
Gostei muito de termos Darl e Eli como narradores mas, confesso, que não foi muito fácil, perceber logo quem é que narrava pois achei que não tinham "uma voz" distinta.
Um outro aspecto que, para mim, não funcionou muito bem, foi o reencontro das personagens pois não achei muito credível o não reconhecimento.
No entanto, gostei muito do modo como a autora criou a história e o impacto que a família tem em cada uma das personagens.

Vejam a minha opinião mais detalhada em vídeo, AQUI.

[Lidia Craveiro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deborah Smith é uma das minhas autoras preferidas e foi com grandes expectativas que comecei a ler este livro dias depois de o comprar. O drama de uma familia sulista comandada a pulso de ferro por uma matriarca que destroi quem se lhe atravessa no caminho, foi ao principio uma boa leitura. A familia está submersa em segredos - que não vou falar aqui para não estragar a leitura - e grande parte do enredo gira à volta desses mistérios. Bom, até aí tudo bem, mas a certa altura, achei que faltava aquele toque de "midas" que autora nos habituou em vários dos seus romances. Tudo bem, todos os autores tem livros menos bons, e seguramente este é um deles. No entanto, continua a ser uma escrita fabulosa, uma história bem imaginada e cativante, mas sem aquela profundidade nos personagens que ela nos habituou. É isso, os personaegns não são fantásticos, à excepção da matriarca que supostamente deveria ser uma personagem secundária e acabou por se tornar a principal, no meu entender. Não tem nada de mal, mas quem lê espera um par romântico bem construido e com força. Continua a ser uma boa leitura, que emociona em alguns aspectos mais para o final, mas talvez um livro mais ligth da autora.

[Pat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yes... I had to take this book in small amounts. It was not like any other Deborah Smith’s books I have read and enjoyed. This story was about greedy nasty people. I did feel sympathy for Darl. She was stuck in a hopeless situation with a very strong willed grandmother. I would say her grandmother was actually wicked. As was the grandmother’s sister.
But! Darl had several good people in her life and eventually, after many years things did straighten out. But not without a whole lot of heartbreak. And meanness included.
I suppose it could be considered a lesson on how not to be. Money can be the root of all evil. If you allow it.

[Paula Magalhães · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maravilhoso! Um pouco dramático mais para o fim , mas tudo bem encaixado. Foi a primeira vez que li um livro da autora e fiquei fã !

Darl é neta de uma grande senhora que construiu toda uma cidade com mármores rosa, arduamente trabalhados por cantoneiros locais.Um dia chega à pequena cidade do mármore rosa uma família à qual pertencia Eli Wade. Rapidamente Eli e Darl ficam amigos. Muitas coisas acontecem, mas è só passados 25 anos que tudo fica esclarecido...

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book despite reading some bad reviews last night. I kept reading and was completely taken in with the characters and the torment they went through in their lives. I cried at the end and felt the pain leave me as it left the characters. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

[Ana Ávila l Livros, Lifestyle e Cenas · Rating 4 out of 5]

🍀 Um livro que deixou-me encantada, não só pela construção de personagens (bem conseguida, na minha opinião), mas a própria história que nos prende do princípio ao fim e, a forma simples e cativante de a autora nos enlaçar a cada novo mistério da poderosa família Hardigree. 👀 Esta leitura deixou-me super motivada para ler mais.

👇 Opinião completa 🎞 👇
https://youtu.be/c5sjVf0E8Z8

[Queen Bzyb · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a way to experience the various shades of human emotion - love, hate, strength, loyalty, remorse, guilt. Life is never clear-cut and whether it is nature or nurture that makes people who they are. While some aspects of this story are a bit far-fetched, I was hooked and very much enjoyed this book.

[Stephanie Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book in a small book shop down the shore a few summers ago. I could reread this story over and over again. With a little romance and mystery, the author provided vivid details of the scenery and great character development (in my opinion of course). Some areas could have been expanded on more, but otherwise loved this book. Couldn’t put it down.

[Adelaide Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5* Uma história familiar separada por 25 anos. Um segredo familiar. Foi-me difícil perceber quem era o narrador pois intercalou entre Eli e Darl sem qualquer separação. Não foi dos livros da Deborath Smith que mais gostei, mas é uma leitura leve

[Ana Rita Ramos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apaixonante, viciante, com uma escrita muito fluida e descrições interessantes.
Uma história repleta de amor, ódio, poder, valores e a ausência deles e a força dos laços familiares.
Espero que seja adaptado ao cinema.

[Lígia Catarina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Achei boa a história, mas a maldade da Swan impressionou-me. Tenho pena que a Darl tenha tido de aguentar guardar o segredo durante tanto tempo. E o amor do Eli por ela e o amor dela por ele foi muito bom! Gostei mais da segunda parte.

[Sandy Carmichael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read about a Southern family with all its secrets, faults, strengths and love.

[Belinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book very much, especially the first half of the book. A Gothic southern novel.