This title was not what I expected. I really was enjoying the store before it became about a potential sexual molestation situation. Between an older man and a young teenage girl. I absolutely hated how the mother (the main character) handled this situation. I probably should have tried to finish to see how the book concluded, but I just got so frustrated I put it down. I ended up DNF-ing this one. The writing was fantastic and the storyline was intriguing, but I did not enjoy the affair and child molestation accusations.

This novel was a welcome and intriguing surprise. I didn’t know anything about it when I began reading, and found it to be compelling and a fast read. Somehow Delury wrote about quirky people making largely bad decisions in a way that endeared them to the reader and even root for them. I hope this gets more attention when it is released in paperback!

I enjoyed the characters in this quick and easy read. The story moves along provides some great interaction to consider. If you like a "what would I do in this situation?" This book will give you various scenarios to contemplate. After reading, I chose this for a bookclub I host, because I was confident it would bring a lively discussion.

Hedge
Author Jane Delury
Available now!

Thank you, @zibbybooks and @netgalley, for my #gifted e- arc!

I seem to be reading several women's fiction novels lately, whose themes navigate the great balancing act between marriage and motherhood, and staying true to oneself. Maud made some big brave decisions, sought out her independence, pursued her dream job, and left her husband and two daughters for the summer. What follows is her journey as she negotiates her crumbling relationship with her husband, a possible romance, and the dynamics between her daughters, which is a challenging one, as you could imagine.

The writing is well done and the plot engaging, but I have an opinion that sounds judgmental... I don't love stories that include infidelity. While I certainly wasn't expecting a happy ending, I absolutely appreciated the realistic conclusion. I also loved the plant descriptions and garden historian info. Overall, it's well worth the captivating and emotional ride!

This book had a lot of garden history and that is just not my thing so I was not into that aspect but the overall storyline of marriage, kids and the balance of it all is always of interest to me. Thank you to NetGalley and Zibby books for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

DNF at 25%

I think this one was just a poor choice on my part. I am not the audience for this book.

That said, the writing is truly beautiful. The author has an enormous talent with words. I just found the story itself to be uninteresting. I wasn't up for 300 pages of Maud's marriage imploding. It's not a bad book. It was just a poor choice on my part.

Maid is such a talented garden historian.I honestly had never heard of someone like this until I read the book. She was very dedicated to her daughters. Her marriage was in serious trouble.She loved the project she was working on in the Hudson Valley. Maude met her coworker Gabriel and they struck up a friendship that developed into a little more. Ella catches them in the hedge talking and doing things she goes off the chain. Life has to return to normal to help her daughter who struggles for years and finally the truth comes out. Maude is the one who gets hurt the most but she keeps going. This book proves a Mom will do anything to protect and take care of their children. A great read.

This was definitely a multifaceted book that I could relate extremely well to! It depicts motherhood honestly and accurately.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book. The beginning was a wonderful story of a woman who has two young daughters, and is working on a landscape renovation and there is a hint of romance. The second half of the book I struggled with because it deals with a very serious topic with one of the daughters, and it’s more reality based. It was very well written and beautifully done.

I couldn’t really get into this one, Jane was not relatable to me, which was fine, but I wasn’t necessarily rooting for her either. A bit too much scenery/garden talk but I guess that’s the point with the cover and title.

🎁 📚 𝓐𝓡𝓒 𝓑𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓡𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀 📚 🎁
4/5🌟

Landscape historian Maud escapes her stifling, crumbling marriage by taking a summer position on a restoration project on the east coast, leaving her daughters with her husband in California. When the girls come for visit, an incident happens which changes the trajectory of Maud’s life (and of my expectations of the novel!), forcing her to set aside her plans and tend to urgent family needs.

This was actually a nice follow up to Maggie Smith’s memoir 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑪𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝑴𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔
𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒇𝒖𝒍. Both are about women balancing marriage with motherhood, career and the calls of their own souls.

Full disclosure, I was dreadfully bored at the beginning, with so much talk about gardening (which really isn’t my thing at all) - but - it created a rich backdrop for the story and I came to enjoy the gardening scenes and history.

𝑯𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆 is the layered, slowly unfolding story of Maud’s attempts to protect and care for her children while attending to her own needs.

Delury’s writing is steady and even with rich character development. This is a quiet but powerful book about how change, while necessary, can be difficult, but new lives can bloom when given the chance.

Many thanks to @netgalley, @zibbybooks and @janedelury for the opportunity to read and review this advanced readers copy!

#biblliophile #stephsalwaysreading #bookstagrammer #bookstagram #hedge#janedelury#whatshouldireadnext #netgalleyarc#summerreads#zibbybooks

Hedge
By: Jane Delury

Maud and her husband and raised two daughters Ella and and Louise. She is a talented gardener and gets the chance to restore and old estate in Hudson Valley.

She meets Gabriel who is an archeologist. The summer is looming and her daughters are to join her. Gabriel and Maud relationship turns into something more. Should she get out of her troubled marriage and pursue something new?

Ella is a handful and even more so when she arrives. Does she suspect her mothers feelings for Gabriel?

#hedge, #janedulery, #zibbybooks, #zibbyambassador, #bookreview, #booksconnectus, .#bookstagram, #stamperlady50

A gorgeously written story about love, parenthood, marriage and responsibility. I couldn’t put this one down and was completely invested with the characters. The lead character, Maud’s garden historian profession was richly detailed and created a beautiful ambience and setting for the story.

Maud accepts a job for the summer restoring an estate in the Hudson Valley, NY and moves there with her two daughters. She uses this opportunity as a time to separate from her husband and contemplate the future of her marriage. A new friendship with a young coworker begins to develop into something more but an unexpected event curtails this growing relationship. Maud struggles to do what is right for her personally while balancing what’s right for her family.

Delury has written a novel full of family drama and dramatic plot twists. Thank you to Zibby Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

I loved the layers of this book and unexpectedly learned a lot about the world of a garden historian. The richness of Delury's writing, compounded by her multi-layered characters sucked me into this seemingly serene world brimming with a quiet tension born from the challenges of being a mother and wife while wanting an identity of one's own.

Marriage is tough but it’s even tougher when you have children and want to do what you think is best for them…when it’s not the best for you. I loved Jane’s writing and as someone who lives in the Bay Area, it was a beautiful feeling to know the places she wrote about. I certainly didn’t see the plot twists coming and really enjoyed the element of surprise that came with reading this novel.

I very much enjoyed this book. Jane Delury's beautiful writing pulls you into the story right away and keeps you interested in what's going to happen to her characters. The plot moves swiftly and contributes to the great sense of place the author conveys. I recommend this novel. Thank you to NetGalley for an early copy of this wonderful story.

Hedge 🌳 by @jane.delury

Maud has a very unique career- she’s a garden historian who helps restore gardens to their full glory. She accepts a job working in the Hudson Valley of New York and brings her two daughters with her. She’s using this time as trial separation from her husband. Before her daughters finish school and come stay with her, she makes friends with a younger coworker, Gabriel and things progress well with him. It gets a little weird when her family joins, but she’s determined to make it work.

Until one day her daughter really start acting out and she finds that she’s been sneaking out of the house to find internet access. Did something happen? Ella won’t explain and Maud blames herself. She also has shown signs of self harm and she needs more help than her parents alone can give. Her husband gets involved and this ideal summer Maud had imagined is now ruined.

This was truly a fascinating story. I wanted to know more about Maud’s job! What a cool career. I also loved they relationship between Maud and her daughters at such impressionable ages. It was also fun to see Maud get her groove back with Gabriel. She definitely lost some of her sexuality with the split from her husband, but she’s feeling herself as she flirts her way.

Thank you so much to @zibbybooks for my gifted copy! Hedge is out now. If you enjoy gardening and good family dramas, this book is for you.

Maud is tired in her marriage that she has tried to make work for a long time, ignoring her own desires, like landscape history. One summer, she tells her husband she’s going to work on a garden project. She loves the work, and there is Gabriel, who makes her see herself differently.

There are some triggers for this book about family issues - both marital, parenting and teenage mental issues (cutting, therapy, etc)

“She’d married him thinking that he operated with a secret code that she’d eventually crack. But she could never decipher the symbols, and once Ella arrived, she stopped trying.” Ch 2

This book was comprised of two parts in my opinion, with the first half being more enjoyable for me. The story revolved around Maud, who worked as a garden historian, and was hired to restore an estate in Hudson Valley during summer. Maud developed a connection with Gabriel, an archaeologist, who also worked with her. The story takes a significant turn when Maud's separated husband's daughters, Ella and Louise, visit her on the East Coast. Ella's behavior worsens with time and has a significant impact on everyone. Maud struggles to maintain equilibrium between her role as a mother, professional, and woman. The storyline deviated from my predictions but managed to keep me engrossed, and I was curious about Maud's verdicts and the impact on her family. The first half of the book was more appealing, with the garden historian job serving as a clever analogy for Maud's journey as she tries to remember her past and restore her identity while nurturing her unique qualities.

Thank you to the author, Zibby Books and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This multi-faceted book was fascinating - I loved the parallel strands of Maud, the garden historian, unearthing old overgrown gardens and bringing them back to life, and Maud's personal story as a woman, whose roles as wife and mother have worn her down and made her too weary to do anything but continue plodding on through the weeds of her life. Diving into the different relationships felt immersive, because the author makes her characters real people - relatable and intriguing. The story doesn't end neatly, but life usually doesn't either.