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Tending Roses #5
A Thousand Voices
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Lost Friends and Before We Were Yours explores the connection between our hearts and our pasts in this emotional novel in the Tending Roses series....Once trapped in a world of poverty and neglect, Dell Jordan knows she was one of the lucky ones. Adopted at thirteen, she was loved, mentored, and encouraged to pursue her passion for music. By twenty, her future has expanded in exciting new directions—a year abroad with a traveling symphony, teaching music to orphans in Ukraine, and applying for a scholarship to Julliard. But underneath Dell’s smoothly polished surface lurk mysteries from the past. Why did her mother abandon her? Who was her father? Are there faces somewhere that look like hers—blood relatives she’s never met?Determined to find answers, and unable to share her emotional uncertainty with her adoptive family, Dell sets off on a secret journey into Oklahoma’s Kiamichi Mountains. Drawn by the only remaining link to her origins—a father’s Native American name on her birth certificate—she travels into quiet wooded valleys, into the heart of the modern Choctaw Nation. There she will find connections to a long and proud heritage and begin to answer the questions of her heart. In the voices of her ancestors, she’ll discover the keys to a future unlike anything she could have imagined.
340 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2007
926 people are currently reading
4282 people want to read
About the author
Lisa Wingate
57 books13.5k followersLisa Wingate is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Before We Were Yours, which remained on the bestseller list for over two years. Her award-winning works have been selected for state and community One Book reads, have been published in over forty languages, and have appeared on bestseller lists worldwide. The group Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Lisa and six others as recipients of the National Civics Award, which celebrates public figures who work to promote greater kindness and civility in American life. She lives in Texas and Colorado with her family and her deceptively cute little teddy bear of a dog, Huckleberry. Find her at www.lisawingate.com, on Facebook at LisaWingateAuthorPage, or on Instagram @author_lisa_wingate
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 422 reviews
October 7, 2023
I was drawn to keep reading every chance I could get being curious of course.....many aspects to learn about with history and native customs etc....It was decent without anything offensive etc....But I was hoping for more resolution at the end...if a relationship would come about and if meeting another family member would occur.... Disappointing that way I found.
April 21, 2017
My least favorite from the "Tending Roses" series. I really enjoy Ms. Wingate`s writing, but this is the first time that I didn't feel any real connection and felt like the book was left up in the air. Although I realize that there is bit more from Dell's story in the book Beyond Summer it didn't quite take away the slight feeling of disappointment I had at the end of this story.
3.5 stars
21 April 2017: I have to agree with my first review, for me this novel (although nice) just didn't have the magic to pull me in and make me live the story...
3.5 stars
21 April 2017: I have to agree with my first review, for me this novel (although nice) just didn't have the magic to pull me in and make me live the story...
February 9, 2023
I grabbed this off the shelf not realizing it was the last in a series. I felt it stands well on its own; however, if it’s the last in the series it seems unfinished, as if it there will be a sequel. Wingate is a talented writer and her research on the Choctaw tribe is impressive. The biggest standout is the characterization, how each character becomes important to the story from a childhood friend to a garden club lady to child at a campground. Wingate gives life to each character so that they practically step off the page.
October 11, 2021
SUMMARY: Adopted at thirteen, Dell Jordan was loved, mentored, and encouraged to pursue her passion for music. Now, at twenty, after a year abroad with a traveling symphony, a scholarship to Julliard is within reach. But underneath Dell's smoothly polished surface lurk mysteries from the past. Why did her mother abandon her? Who was her father? Are there faces somewhere that look like hers-blood relatives she's never met?
Determined to find answers, Dell sets off on a secret journey into Oklahoma's Kiamichi Mountains, drawn by the only remaining link to her origins- a father's Native American name on her birth certificate. In the voices of her Choctaw ancestors, she'll discover the keys to a future unlike anything she could have imagined.
REVIEW: This final book in the Tending Roses series, completes the story of Dell's life as she tries to find her biological father. Saying good-bye to the characters in this story was difficult as Lisa Wingate made them each so real and so full of life whether it be trials or triumphs. I could see an entire next series spun off of the next step in Dell's life and where it would lead her. So many of her characters learned the true meaning of love especially love and acceptance of oneself as well as the fact that each of us from the moment we are created by God Almighty has a reason and purpose for our existence. I particularly like the Native American aspect of this story. It was obvious Miss Wingate had done her research into the Choctaw heritage, and I enjoyed learning more about their past and present. It was also nice to see the genealogical thread as so many people dig through both old records and the blessing of the internet to learn more of their past so as to understand their present. A wonderful series that I was sad to finish.
FAVORITE QUOTES: "Their lesson is one we must remember. The darkest hours of history have always been born of the efforts of one people to dehumanize another."
"A woman must always know she can stand on her own two feet, if need be."
"It's not always the best thing to be just like everyone else.....If God wanted us all to be the same, He would have made us that way."
"Part of growing up is learning that people can't give what they don't have. The rest you have to find in yourself."
Determined to find answers, Dell sets off on a secret journey into Oklahoma's Kiamichi Mountains, drawn by the only remaining link to her origins- a father's Native American name on her birth certificate. In the voices of her Choctaw ancestors, she'll discover the keys to a future unlike anything she could have imagined.
REVIEW: This final book in the Tending Roses series, completes the story of Dell's life as she tries to find her biological father. Saying good-bye to the characters in this story was difficult as Lisa Wingate made them each so real and so full of life whether it be trials or triumphs. I could see an entire next series spun off of the next step in Dell's life and where it would lead her. So many of her characters learned the true meaning of love especially love and acceptance of oneself as well as the fact that each of us from the moment we are created by God Almighty has a reason and purpose for our existence. I particularly like the Native American aspect of this story. It was obvious Miss Wingate had done her research into the Choctaw heritage, and I enjoyed learning more about their past and present. It was also nice to see the genealogical thread as so many people dig through both old records and the blessing of the internet to learn more of their past so as to understand their present. A wonderful series that I was sad to finish.
FAVORITE QUOTES: "Their lesson is one we must remember. The darkest hours of history have always been born of the efforts of one people to dehumanize another."
"A woman must always know she can stand on her own two feet, if need be."
"It's not always the best thing to be just like everyone else.....If God wanted us all to be the same, He would have made us that way."
"Part of growing up is learning that people can't give what they don't have. The rest you have to find in yourself."
February 26, 2022
Dell Jordan, adopted into the family of Grandma Rose (of Tending Roses Book 1) has just spent the past two years traveling abroad. She has traveled with a youth symphony all over Europe and then gone to a mission project in Ukraine for orphan children. Now her unanswered questions about her birth family are rising up inside her and she can't ignore them. She doesn't want to bother her adoptive parents and make them think she's not happy with them, so she invents a pretext and takes off to Oklahoma to search for her birth records in hopes of finding her real father.
What she finds is even more than she is looking for. She realizes that she is part of a Native American tribe called the Choctaws, and discovers that they draw her in like family, even though she may not be related to them by blood. They are willing to help her discover her roots, and fill that empty spot in her heart. While this was a good ending to the Tending Roses series, I wish there was another sequel to Dell's story. She is a wonderful character, balancing between two worlds, full of music and spirit.
What she finds is even more than she is looking for. She realizes that she is part of a Native American tribe called the Choctaws, and discovers that they draw her in like family, even though she may not be related to them by blood. They are willing to help her discover her roots, and fill that empty spot in her heart. While this was a good ending to the Tending Roses series, I wish there was another sequel to Dell's story. She is a wonderful character, balancing between two worlds, full of music and spirit.
April 30, 2019
This is the fifth and last book in a series that was originally supposed to be a trilogy. I liked it, but really, this series should have been a trilogy.
One of the main things about this book that bothered me was the clear lack of knowledge the author has about top music schools. For one thing, she only knows of one sometimes overrated one that isn't good for everything (as in they aren't the top for every instrument and are NOT always in the first few for some instruments). For another, no one gets into that school or plays well enough to get into any good music school after taking a year off, so all the other people saying she's still good enough for Julliard don't know much about music, either.
But wait, there's more. In order to start at age 13 and be that good by 18 there has to be a lot more concentration on one instrument. Natural talent or not, no one, and I mean no one, can coast on that--you have to have talent, but once you are in the talent pool that becomes the least important part of the equation. Nor is it thousands of hours of correct practicing, it's having a teacher capable of teaching well enough. Even child prodigies who start very young--and rest assured there are many top musicians with prodigious talent who weren't child prodigies--have to work many hours and hone technique plus a lot more.
This was the main part of the book that irked me, but other than that it wasn't Wingate's strongest book, either.
One of the main things about this book that bothered me was the clear lack of knowledge the author has about top music schools. For one thing, she only knows of one sometimes overrated one that isn't good for everything (as in they aren't the top for every instrument and are NOT always in the first few for some instruments). For another, no one gets into that school or plays well enough to get into any good music school after taking a year off, so all the other people saying she's still good enough for Julliard don't know much about music, either.
But wait, there's more. In order to start at age 13 and be that good by 18 there has to be a lot more concentration on one instrument. Natural talent or not, no one, and I mean no one, can coast on that--you have to have talent, but once you are in the talent pool that becomes the least important part of the equation. Nor is it thousands of hours of correct practicing, it's having a teacher capable of teaching well enough. Even child prodigies who start very young--and rest assured there are many top musicians with prodigious talent who weren't child prodigies--have to work many hours and hone technique plus a lot more.
This was the main part of the book that irked me, but other than that it wasn't Wingate's strongest book, either.
June 25, 2014
I read this book because I am to be on a panel with its author, but what started as a sense of obligation quickly became admiration. This is not typically my kind of genre; however, Wingate has painted such a sensitive and compelling picture of a Choctaw family that she won me over. Twenty years ago, I compiled an oral history of people involved in American Indian education and in the pow wows in Los Angeles (shameless plug: Pow Wows and Potlucks is coming out this fall from Ethnographic Press!), and I grew up attending an annual pow wow in Oklahoma. . . so Wingate's description of a tribal celebration in Oklahoma is familiar territory for me. I marveled at how well Wingate captured the personalities and color of the Choctaw people her main character encounters in searching for her birth father. The narrative is believable and fast-paced, and the characters come to life and made me care.
March 18, 2019
More please
I need to know what Dell devices to do with her life and if she ends up with Jace. I hate loose ends. These characters feel like beloved family and I will miss them. I read book 1 and 2 again because it had been four years since I read them, so I could remember all the story details before I read the more recent books. I'm sure this is a series I will read again and again. I would love to have them all available on Audible as I would like to share them with two friends who prefer to listen rather then read.
This is my new favorite series. Lisa Wingate is a master story teller and the characters in her stories are unforgettable. This whole series has spoiled the writing of other authors for me.
I need to know what Dell devices to do with her life and if she ends up with Jace. I hate loose ends. These characters feel like beloved family and I will miss them. I read book 1 and 2 again because it had been four years since I read them, so I could remember all the story details before I read the more recent books. I'm sure this is a series I will read again and again. I would love to have them all available on Audible as I would like to share them with two friends who prefer to listen rather then read.
This is my new favorite series. Lisa Wingate is a master story teller and the characters in her stories are unforgettable. This whole series has spoiled the writing of other authors for me.
April 17, 2020
Another book read to the wife. She loves to be read to, she always has. Reading is one of the few things that we can do together after her stroke.
This book dwells on Dell trying to find her biological father and birth family. The last several chapters were quiet emotional for us.
This book dwells on Dell trying to find her biological father and birth family. The last several chapters were quiet emotional for us.
August 26, 2025
This was such a good book up until the end when everything wrapped up too quickly leaving the ending a little flat compared to the rest of the book.
April 15, 2025
3.75 A good story with a ending I didn’t quite anticipate
November 4, 2019
If ever you felt like you just didn't belong, as though you weren't like anyone in your family and something seemed to be missing in your life, this fascinating book might fill a spot in your life.
A Thousand Voices is the story of a gifted young Native American who had little to bind herself to her past before she was adopted. She had memories of her drug addicted mother, a grandmother who barely seemed to care for her, and a little half brother who she loved dearly, but was taken away when it was clear her mother couldn't take proper care of him.
Now at 22, Dell is feeling a bit lost. Although her adoptive parents loved her completely, and provided all the musical training she could ever want, and showered her with affection and a caring extended family, as this same family grew, and children were born, she began to see how her dark hair, eyes and skin would never be traits any of the others could claim looked just like hers. She found herself longing for something... else. Roots.
Going by what little her mother had offered about her father's beginnings in Oklahoma in Choctaw territory, and just a name, she set off to find blood ties, and hopefully a father she does not recall.
Circumstances, that at first seemed like really bad luck, brought her to a place where kinship of the soul seemed to meet the loss she always felt.
Ms. Wingate weaves such lovely stories. Emotion is something she knows how to share so eloquently. I felt a bit of a kinship with Dell myself as I never quite felt like the rest of my family. I felt for her longing, and desire to belong to something more.
Reading the history and ceremonies of the Choctaw Indians and of course the sad tale of The Trail of Tears was enlightening. I thought it was well done. But what was also well done was the depiction of the close knit family environment. Women in their tribe are called Aunt by children, whether they are their aunt or not. There is respect for elders with kindness and gentleness. It was lovely.
There was a faith element throughout the story, albeit mild and unspecific. This was a clean and sweet book, one I can recommend to teens+.
A Thousand Voices is the story of a gifted young Native American who had little to bind herself to her past before she was adopted. She had memories of her drug addicted mother, a grandmother who barely seemed to care for her, and a little half brother who she loved dearly, but was taken away when it was clear her mother couldn't take proper care of him.
Now at 22, Dell is feeling a bit lost. Although her adoptive parents loved her completely, and provided all the musical training she could ever want, and showered her with affection and a caring extended family, as this same family grew, and children were born, she began to see how her dark hair, eyes and skin would never be traits any of the others could claim looked just like hers. She found herself longing for something... else. Roots.
Going by what little her mother had offered about her father's beginnings in Oklahoma in Choctaw territory, and just a name, she set off to find blood ties, and hopefully a father she does not recall.
Circumstances, that at first seemed like really bad luck, brought her to a place where kinship of the soul seemed to meet the loss she always felt.
Ms. Wingate weaves such lovely stories. Emotion is something she knows how to share so eloquently. I felt a bit of a kinship with Dell myself as I never quite felt like the rest of my family. I felt for her longing, and desire to belong to something more.
Reading the history and ceremonies of the Choctaw Indians and of course the sad tale of The Trail of Tears was enlightening. I thought it was well done. But what was also well done was the depiction of the close knit family environment. Women in their tribe are called Aunt by children, whether they are their aunt or not. There is respect for elders with kindness and gentleness. It was lovely.
There was a faith element throughout the story, albeit mild and unspecific. This was a clean and sweet book, one I can recommend to teens+.
July 1, 2023
You can never go wrong with a Lisa Wingate novel; A Thousand Voices did not disappoint.
A lovely, sing-song feeling story of Dell, a young half-Choctaw woman trying to sift through her past while not disturbing her present. Rich with tidbits of Choctaw history, A Thousand Voices finds Dell searching for her birth father in secret so as not to hurt her adoptive white parents. When Dell meets the Reed family over the Labor Day Choctaw pow wow, she is filled with a new sense of belonging as she learns about her heritage as she instills some lessons of her own to her new friends.
A very easy flow to the book that will keep you wanting to turn the page. I’m always so impressed at the easy flow of dialogue in a Lisa Wingate book and A Thousand Voices left me smiling at its reality.
A very good book.
A lovely, sing-song feeling story of Dell, a young half-Choctaw woman trying to sift through her past while not disturbing her present. Rich with tidbits of Choctaw history, A Thousand Voices finds Dell searching for her birth father in secret so as not to hurt her adoptive white parents. When Dell meets the Reed family over the Labor Day Choctaw pow wow, she is filled with a new sense of belonging as she learns about her heritage as she instills some lessons of her own to her new friends.
A very easy flow to the book that will keep you wanting to turn the page. I’m always so impressed at the easy flow of dialogue in a Lisa Wingate book and A Thousand Voices left me smiling at its reality.
A very good book.
December 19, 2023
Some of the characters/relationships didn’t seem very plausible. I would have liked a little more history of the tribe. I didn’t like the main character a lot, so it ended up being a fine book, but I wasn’t crazy about it. The ending with the dad being a lie on the birth certificate was weird and dumb. The relationship with the teacher guy telling her to not come back and then kissing her and saying he regretted getting involved with her (was she there like 2 days?!) was weird and not cute at all. If I dwell too much I might bump my rating down, so I’ll just leave it at that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 21, 2023
Not my usual genre, so I had a hard time rating it. Obviously, there were no twists and turns that I am used to.
A story about a native girl discovering where she came from. She was adopted at 12 after her mother passes away, by a white couple whom she loves dearly, but as she has grown up, she feels she is missing part of her past and goes looking for her biological family. A heartwarming story about self-discovery and the meaning of family.
A story about a native girl discovering where she came from. She was adopted at 12 after her mother passes away, by a white couple whom she loves dearly, but as she has grown up, she feels she is missing part of her past and goes looking for her biological family. A heartwarming story about self-discovery and the meaning of family.
August 24, 2024
A childhood with a mother's drug addition and neglect, Dell was adopted by a childless couple. But because her birth father was Choctaw, she didn't look like anyone around her. She was musically talented but wouldn't avail herself of more opportunities, burdened by torment and propelled by the past. After spending time with ones who looked like her, but not telling her adopted parents, she finally locates her birth father.
January 31, 2022
The last book In this series! I loved this series. So many good life lessons.
This book was great, I loved looking more into Dell’s life. I started to love the love story that was unfolding but it left me with an annoyed feeling that left me questioning if anything was even going to come of it in the end.
This book was great, I loved looking more into Dell’s life. I started to love the love story that was unfolding but it left me with an annoyed feeling that left me questioning if anything was even going to come of it in the end.
June 26, 2023
Love Found and Returned
Dell has a wonderful life with her adopted family. Life hasn’t always been easy but she grows and adapts to life’s changes. Searching for the missing piece of her life she finds new friends and new family, as well as unexpected answers to questions and needs she thought she might never find. Wonderful story!
Dell has a wonderful life with her adopted family. Life hasn’t always been easy but she grows and adapts to life’s changes. Searching for the missing piece of her life she finds new friends and new family, as well as unexpected answers to questions and needs she thought she might never find. Wonderful story!
June 8, 2024
Fantastic!
Living in Oklahoma, I was excited about this book, especially after enjoying the last 4 so much. All 5 books can be read on their own as well.
Lisa has a way of making you feel like part of the conversation, an additional character in the story. Dell’s story has been told, in bits and pieces, in all 4 books prior, but she gets to tell the whole story now. I appreciated the reality of her life, and the dichotomy of being on her own from a small child, and trying to open up to being parented and cared for.
Thank you for writing this.
Living in Oklahoma, I was excited about this book, especially after enjoying the last 4 so much. All 5 books can be read on their own as well.
Lisa has a way of making you feel like part of the conversation, an additional character in the story. Dell’s story has been told, in bits and pieces, in all 4 books prior, but she gets to tell the whole story now. I appreciated the reality of her life, and the dichotomy of being on her own from a small child, and trying to open up to being parented and cared for.
Thank you for writing this.
February 14, 2019
I really enjoy how Lisa Wingate is able to tell such poignant stories. I had a bit of a hard time relating to some of the events in the book, but the end was worth it. Just in my opinion, this is not one of her best.
September 28, 2020
Very interesting book. Piqued my interest in learning more about the "Trail of Tears".
March 14, 2024
3.5 for me
July 2, 2024
I didn’t know this was part of a series but I still enjoyed it.
July 17, 2022
Quick read to finish off this series. I like Lisa Wingate's books and this one was good. The whole series was good.
July 2, 2021
Very good story about adoption and trying to find your history. I learned a lot about the Choctaw Indians.
June 14, 2023
I didn’t realize when I borrowed this book from a friend that it was a part of a series I had already started reading a while back. Luckily it was fine to read as a stand alone novel. The themes throughout of a young girl searching for her birth family struck a cord with me. Beautifully written and quite often the author had a line in the book that made me just sit and ponder on it a while.
“Part of growing up is realizing people can’t give what they don’t have. The rest you have to find for yourself.”
“Part of growing up is realizing people can’t give what they don’t have. The rest you have to find for yourself.”
March 29, 2025
My rating is 3.5. It was too good for a 3 but not quite a 4. I feel it left a little room for another book. If there isn't another book, Dell will be the only one we don't get a glimpse of "what comes after". I am guessing that since this book was released in 2007, her story has ended.
September 15, 2024
I read this book because I loved another of Wingate's books, "Before We Were Yours." I loved this well-written, compelling tale about adopted young adult Dell's exploration of her Choctaw heritage in the search for her birth father to settle unanswered questions about her past. The descriptions of the landscape were especially meaningful to me, as I recently returned from a girls' trip to Broken Bow (within the Choctaw Nation). Definitely recommend!
September 26, 2011
I think I will give this a 2.75. :o) It's a sweet story about a girl trying to find out where she came from. I liked enough at first, but towards the end sort of lost interest, I don't know why. I didn't even know it was part of a series until I got onto goodreads, I don't think anything was missing by not reading the first 4 books. I have a feeling they are only sort of related. But anyway, this was nothing special, but not a complete waste of time either. It was good for reading on an airplane and laying by the pool. :o)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 422 reviews