Book Review: Where Lilacs Still Bloom

Where Lilacs Still Bloom by Jane Kirkpatrick
ISBN: 978-1-4000-7430-3
Paperback, 372 pages
Publisher: WaterBrook Press
Retail: $14.99 US/$17.99 CAN

From the back cover:

One woman, an impossible dream, and the faith it takes to see it through.

     German immigrant and farm wife Hulda Klager possesses only an eighth-grade education –and a burning desire to create something beautiful. What begins as a hobby to create an easy-peeling apple for her pies becomes Hulda’s driving purpose: a time-consuming interest in plant hybridization that puts her at odds with family and community, as she challenges the early twentieth-century expectations for a simple housewife.
     Through the years, seasonal floods continually threaten to erase her Woodland, Washington, garden; and a series of family tragedies cause even Hulda to question her focus. In a time of practicality, can one person’s simple gifts of beauty make a difference?
      Based on the life of Hulda Klager, Where Lilacs Still Bloom is a story of triumph over seemingly insurmountable odds and the power of a generous heart.

“Beauty matters…it does. God gave us flowers for a reason. Flowers remind us to put away fear, to stop our rushing and running and worrying about this and that, and for a  moment, have a piece of paradise right here on earth.”

This book reads a bit like a diary with other stories interwoven. It kind of reminds me of a Lifetime original movie! It isn’t fast-paced; more calm and flowing.

Kirkpatrick’s writing focuses more on the everyday and not the spectacular or out-of-the-ordinary. Although no where near as flowery as Charlotte Bronte, this book, the first I’ve read by Kirkpatrick, reminded me somewhat of Bronte’s style. The mundane tasks of life, planting bulbs, pruning trees and bushes, baking pies, and hybridizing lilacs –can have such a significant importance in people’s lives is evident in this book.

I wasn’t entirely sure how this book was going to take shape and didn’t anticipate the directions it went. I do not feel that I am a feminist but do whole-heartedly believe in women being capable of more than simply cooking, cleaning and being interested only in ‘a woman’s place’. This book made me frustrated more than once, not because of the style of writing but because of the mindset of society when Hulda Klager was alive. I have mixed emotions about hybridization but I really think this book is about so much more than that. It is about having a passion about something that seems wrong or inappropriate to others based on culture or traditions. I am one who believes that the family is very important and that is it deteriorating as time progresses. But Hulda is accused of neglecting her family in this book, even though I fail to recall even one instance where she missed making dinner or to get the laundry done, with the exception of when she was ill. There were even those who believed tragedy in her life was a result of her placing her interests and energy into her flowers. To make it more clear, Hulda was trying to change the natural world that God created because she strived for a more perfect lilac. Hulda wasn’t a bee or a bird and therefore, according to some people, should have been content with the way things were and not try to do what it wasn’t her place to do.

I did enjoy this book because of the focus of faith and family as well as the pursuit of what seemed to be an impossible dream. Also being from the Northwest myself, Oregon in particular, I enjoyed the historical information. This isn’t a fast-paced book but if you stick with it, I believe you will find that it is a very good book.

***I received this book free from WaterBrook Multnomah as part of their Blogging for Books book reviews. No other compensation was given. All opinions are my own. See Disclosure/Policies.***