A Garden to Keep

Derby #4

by Jamie Langston Turner

Elizabeth's story is like that of a garden left untended for too long, with weeds as bounteous as blossoms and stone walkways buried beneath tangled vines and daffodils. Beauty to be found, though amidst much neglect. When betrayal strikes at the heart of her very existence, Elizabeth Landis retraces the path of her life and her marriage, discovering along the way memories both painful to the touch and a joy to embrace. Pruning the garden of her life requires an honesty new to Elizabeth, but offers the promise of mercy...and perhaps even a grace to bestow.

Genres: Christian Fiction, Fiction, Christian, Contemporary

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Jamie Langston Turner is the award-winning author of seven novels, including Sometimes a Light Surprises, Winter Birds, and Some Wildflower in my Heart, and has been a teacher for more than forty years. She is currently a professor of poetry and creative writing at Bob Jones University. Jamie lives in Greenville, South Carolina, with her husband.

Reviews

[Billie Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 4th book I have read by Turner and she is the most unusual Christian author I have read. The style is sort of "stream of consciousness", rather rambling thoughts like we really have in life. In this novel, a woman experiences a depression and works her way out of it with the help of a new found Christian faith and her love of artful poetry. Her husband leaves her and she realizes that life is a garden that must be worked and kept up. She views the film "Babette's Feast", which helps her to see cooking for someone as an act of sharing mercy and grace. She trusts God to help her review her marriage and realizes that she is at fault as much as her husband for the break up, and finds the grace and mercy in her heart to approach her very non-communicative husband with forgiveness. It takes some work to read in some sections, as all of Turner's books do, but it is richly rewarding to see how a person really applies the teachings of Jesus Christ to a real situation that people find themselves in every day.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Author gripped me with the opening pages. Not fake in the lives portrayed but people that I could ache with and rejoice with. I did feel a bit like I was a ping-pong ball inside this woman's head - thoughts flittering here and there rapidly. But then that's how my husband often tells me I speak, jumping from thought to unconnected thought. Thus I felt right at home in this woman's over active brain, bouncing around less as she found security and peace. WELL TOLD!
Can't wait for Jamie to deliver another terrific read.

[AlixJamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is basically a record of one woman's thoughts over the span of roughly five months. As such, every chapter is about 2% storyline and 98% digression. I suspect that if you took out all the digression you would be left with about three or four chapters of disjointed narrative. I really only read this book because a friend wanted my opinion on it and I really only finished it because I wanted to know if Elizabeth forgave Ken and for the snatches of humor that were woven into the monologue of thoughts.
This book is not a light read. It demands your full attention, otherwise you miss out on a detail that could be important later on. By the time I was nearing the end my brain was skipping over the miles of digressive thought to the snatches of dialog and story.
Ms. Turner has a great sense of humor and I found myself smiling at many of her sentences, but I got really tired of all the digressing. Some, SOME of it was good, but on the whole it got abominably tedious. Besides that, I'm not a lover of poetry and every chapter was wrapped around some piece of poetry written by someone I had never heard of. If you love poetry, you'll probably appreciate all the digression along that line.
The storyline, at least what there was of it, was excellent and interesting enough to make me plow through the 98% to get to it, though my common sense told me just to cut through the digression and read the story.
In the beginning of the book Elizabeth Landis puts in a warning that
the end of the story might make you angry. Not being a feminist, but instead a firm believer that the strongest woman is not the one who kicks her husband out and refuses to have anything to do with him when he is unfaithful, but the one who takes the harder road and forgives and receives her husband back,the only thing that made me angry was Elizabeth and how she went on and on about how she wanted her husband back, but every time the man tried to apologize she would digress for a few pages and then finally say something that was surprisingly cold and unbending. I just wanted to shake her. If she wants him back so bad, why does she constantly give him the rough side of her tongue when he tries to explain?
Oh, and the ending made me mad too. After thirty-three chapters of derailing thought and gross digression, you would think we would at least be rewarded with a more informed ending. I wanted to know what Elizabeth and Ken said to each other, what Ken thought of the meal, and all the little details Ms. Turner built up to and then chopped off and left hanging. I should have known that Travis would have taken up everything on the last page except for a few ending lines.

[Cindy]

Most boring discovery of husband having an affair that I almost missed it,unsure it occured.Lots of skimming and speed reading....finally gave up!😂😂😂

[Esther]

SAFETY INFO
I skimmed through it. One of the worst cheating books ever. It’s disgusting how he hardly talks about what happened with ow. How ow leaves town and maybe that’s why he finishes his affair. The h was a DOORMAT. The literal definition. He doesn’t grovel AT ALL. And says he miss being at home (NOTHING ABOUT MISSING HER Except missing her cooking!!!)
Women don’t need to do the house and cooking and be the greatest housewife while being perfect and everything to deserve LOYALTY. It’s disgusting how he blames h for what happened but he didn’t do anything to try to save his marriage. He says that he doesn’t know how to express himself that’s why he didn’t say anything before. He is selfish and more selfish and honestly one of the works heroes ever. Don’t say that this is being a Christian for goddamn sake.

[Sue-b-doo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jamie Langston Turner is such a great writer! I have no idea how she knows so much about poetry for this book, but she is amazing! "A Garden to Keep" took me a loooooong time to get through. I would read a bit, put it down, pick it back up later, put it back down. The reason I didn't quit is that it was so good, but it was a narrative type book, so I felt I could read it like a diary almost. I was thrilled when Eldeen (needle!) showed up, a character from her other books...gotta love that dear lady! So good to see the God of Salvation take over a heart & bring forgiveness, repentance, & restoration. God bless the "Margarets" of this world! True listeners! Thanks, Jamie!

[Manda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, I enjoyed this reread so much – maybe more than the first time I read it years ago. The writing is completely introspective, and the emphasis is on the characters rather than the action of the plot. But I didn’t mind that at all. A pleasing narrative voice, beautiful insights into forgiveness and grace, and a satisfying resolution all added up to a lovely, lovely reading experience. If you enjoy character-driven works (AND if you like poetry – a major theme of this book), you’ll enjoy A Garden to Keep.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-read this one and got the message again all over again. This is not a light read. The author's style may or may not be appreciated by all readers. Even though I love it, the back and forth, and the constant poetry references, do get a little overwhelming at times. However, the theme more than makes up for it. A marriage is like a garden. Both members have to contribute. A garden has to be kept or it grows up in weeds.

I also loved the Christian message of redemption and grace, which permeated the entire story from the first chapter, and yet was never used as a club or as a preaching point.

"You climb a lot of mountains in a marriage. Range after range. Sometimes you lose sight of where you are. Maybe a fog rolls in, or the sun goes down and darkness settles in. You have to keep your eyes on your feet because the terrain is so rugged. The days are long, but you live for the one when the mist will clear and you'll see the whole panoramic view spread before you. In the nighttime, though, you can sometimes catch the glimmer of a star through the clouds above." p. 304

I found this story to be very intense and very hard to put down. IMO this is Turner's best book.

[Tina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I liked the book until the main character remarked that she wasn't a good mother because she didn't teach her children the gospel after a few hours with talking with a born again Christian. ARRRgh. I dropped the book after that. I threw it in the trash at the end of the sentence. The judgmental stuff wrapped in spun sugar. I try and be open minded and read all kinds of books about characters with different religions and how it affects them but this was over the top. This was second of hers that I read and the first was good and gave it high marks but this was a thinly veiled Born Again Christian tract. Hated that aspect of it. I won't be reading any more of Turner's books.

[Jennifer Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful!

First, I have to say: I am passionately Christian but have been turned off my most Christian fiction. It's just generally terrible writing and tropes galore. But this author is a gifted writer. I love her voice and how she wove so many great peoms into the telling. I also liked her character development. I plan to read more by her.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book and re-read it every year or so. It's rambling and extremely introspective and I relate to it on many levels. The writing style is not for everyone, but I connect with her obsessive desire to figure it all out when crisis strikes.

[Nikole · Rating 3 out of 5]

First time reading this author. Wordier than I generally prefer, but kept the characters relatable which is the only way I finished the book. I may read one more by the author just to get a feel for her style. But if it's like this one, I prob won't again.

[Jo Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Won the Christy Award for Christian fiction excellence...I'd like to purchase a copy and highlight all the great quotes and verses just for myself!

[Sally Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, my goodness. This book blew me away. It's one of the most thoughtful, beautifully written books I've ever read.

Liz's husband has an affair. As this all begins, she is invited to church, makes a friend, and accepts Christ. She spends the book analyzing how she should act as a Christian, her husband's infidelity, and finally, her own lack of communication in the marriage. Rather than totally laying blame in Ken, she looks at herself and learns that the fault may not have all been his.

She loves poetry and there is much evidence of that in this book.

Really lovely. I hated for it to end.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting writing... I could relate in many ways but sometimes I’d get lost and have to reread as it was a lot of bouncing from one thought to another and back again.... much like most of us do during life. The feelings she went through and all was things I experienced in my own previous marriage- and many things were poetic references- which is fine with me but some people don’t enjoy poetry or understand it.
Overall a good read and without giving away anything- any Mom who’s experienced the emptying of the nest or infidelity can relate.

[Debra Laughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good. A look at marriage, empty nest, and the hard look in the mirror. A woman evaluates her part in a distance within the marriage and how her family dynamics affect it. She slowly comes alive when she learns to accept hard things about her and about others. Because my own garden I have not kept. . .Turner laces the storyline with quality poetry, vivid pieces of music and snapshots of a growing boy and his inevitable growing up. Read it.

[Lauri Gentry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is like running a marathon with many bunny trails. A thought provoking journey as told through the voice of the main character. In the first chapter Elizabeth first finds her way to Christ then learns her husband is having an affair. She takes us on her road to healing and self discovery in who she is in Christ and the role she played in the destruction of her marriage. Many references to poetry and to classical music. I liked it but was ready for it to come to an end.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! It’s hard to describe what exactly I like about it. It’s a poetic novel. It’s not for a quick light read. It’s in depth and rambling and jumping from one idea to the other, however I really liked it. This book explores Elizabeth’s life piece by piece and has some great quotes or insights. It also inspired me to look up several different poems.

[Sherri · Rating 1 out of 5]

I Made it to page 108 and just was to exhausted trying to keep up with all the back and forth thought processes. This must be what a person with ADD thinks like. I am sure there are a lot of people who would love this book but it was not for me.

[Darlene · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rarely have I read such a rambling and rather pointless book. I finished it because I started it but about the best I can say is that "it was something to read".

[Susan J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book

At first I went real fast or the poetry, but then came to appreciate it. I loved the underlying grace of the book.

[Violet Troyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not your normal novel. The style of writing took patience, but she knows how to drive home good points.

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this author and this book!

[Jeannette Harbottle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who is to blame....

Or there are always two sides to every story. Probably not the best of the five books, it is still a good read and challenges the way one interacts with people.

[Vgathright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book. The rabbit holes could get a bit annoying at times, especially her explaining every time why it was okay she was going off on tangents. But was thoughtful and interesting.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very thought-provoking and unusual. I liked the artistry.

[Violet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elizabeth Landis makes the decision to become a Christian on a Sunday just hours before she discovers her husband is having an affair. Jamie Langston Turner’s novel A Garden to Keep is the story of the next four months.

It is a literary tome that delves into Elizabeth’s past and present. She probes her marriage, her mothering, her friendships, and her relationship with her parents and in-laws. In this she is often comforted by her ‘friends,’ the poems that are her companions, teachers, seers and the lenses through which she views life. As she becomes familiar with her new-found faith, Bible passages join their ranks.

The story is told in first person with our narrator anticipating the objections we’ll have to the way she’s telling the story, she says in the first paragraph:

“Let me warn you from the start that this story might make you angry.”

In another place after playing fast-and-loose with verb tenses she informs:

“In case anybody is wondering, I know my verb tenses are wildly erratic. I know all about verbs .... But verb tense is one of the most irrelevant parts of reviewing your life” Kindle Location 329.

And several times she asks for our patience as she spins out this lengthy tale:

“I’ve got something to say to anybody who’s grumbling about the slow pace of the story. And to anyone who wants to lay it aside because it’s disjointed. Don’t. A story goes forth in its own way. It takes its own sweet time to do whatever it’s going to do …” KL 4645.

I enjoyed the writing, though. Turner writes with lots of wisdom and perception:

“Every minute of every day is dragged down and held back by the heavy anchor of my broken marriage” KL 4657.

I also loved all the many references to poets and specific poems. I have highlighted a host of poem titles that I intend to check out. There are also some good insights about poetry:

“That’s what poetry does. You read it once and feel the quake, and then, as time goes on, you feel the aftershock” KL 7369.

But the slow, rambling, tangential storytelling style did tax my patience, despite the narrator’s pleas. And the longer I read, the less I liked Elizabeth herself. For someone who prided herself on how “Aware” she was (she haughtily classified people as “Aware” and “Unaware”), she was pathetically unaware and lacking in social graces (though she remarked early on about what a burden her ever-present politeness was in that it had her doing things that she would rather not just to be nice). Her possessive ways with her son while she ignored her husband and her rudeness to her mother-in-law (for which she justified herself at every turn) had me wanting to shake some common sense into her little poetic head.

Maybe I’ve prejudiced you against reading. I hope not. Because Christian literary novels are rare, this one was a prize-winner (2002 Christy Award for Contemporary Novel), and it does contain a lot of wisdom about relationships and how life with Christ makes forgiveness and extending grace (to oneself and others) possible. Of course for poetry lovers a work of fiction that incorporates poetry into its very essence is a rare find and worth reading for that content alone.

[Dodger · Rating 5 out of 5]

2024 This is my third time to read A Garden to Keep, and every time I've read it new nuances creep in, and my appreaciation for this book grows to new levels each time.
I wrote in 2018 that the poetry part was overwhelmingly filled with my dislike, but during my current reading, I really took the time to hear the words, and feel a deeper understanding of her love more deeply.

Many of her poems she quotes are quite sad and some are somewhat depressing. Lovely Margeret understood that she needed to expand her love for words into reading novels because of the sorrowful element.

Of course, the most important words of the book include the great wonder and beauty of the love for Jesus Christ for us and the blood He shed to set us free for eternity.

2018 This is a difficult book to read through, especially for someone similar to me who doesn't appreciate poetry all that much. Hundreds of poems are regarded in the story, and sometimes it felt extremely overwhelming. On the plus side, this is a wonderful book telling the story of a woman who grows and learns about herself and God.
She realizes that even though her husband is wrong in so many ways--she's faces the truth about her own thoughts and behavior.
I love the characters from previous books are also featured here, sometimes barely a sentence and sometimes a rediscovered friend.
I mainly read dystopian books, but I love this author and could read a million more books from her.

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you can put up with all the wandering dialog/thoughts, there are many good insights in the narrative. Hours could have shaved off of the story if all the unnecessary details had been omitted. Many times the narrative droned on & on, leading me to think the point she'll make must be really good if she's going to go to this much trouble to build up to it--but when the narrative FINALLY got back around to the story, she would hardly say anything at all! I got so tired of being told by the main character that she KNEW she was wandering, & that she'd tell her story the way she wanted to--once was enough. I think could have indulged it a little better if it didn't happen OVER & OVER AGAIN. The author is obviously well read, and has keen insight. I loved the previous story in the series, Some Wildflower In My Heart--one of the best books I've read in a long time. However, I would be reluctant to recommend this book. The storyline just gets so bogged down in tedious details. Repeatedly.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't read this type of book very often, but decided to read this one because the author is local. The main character does a lot of rambling which was tedious at first. Having experienced my parents separation and divorce I would say that it is follows closely what a woman goes through in such circumstances. Jamie Langston Turner does an interesting job of weaving poetry into the book so it was enjoyable to read. It provided much to think about. The last part of the book brings in the idea of grace. After enduring all of the scattered ramblings, it would have been nice for this last part to be filled out more.