After the Rain
-
-
4.3 • 4 Ratings
-
-
- $9.99
-
- $9.99
Publisher Description
From New York Times bestselling author Jane Lorenzini comes a story of heartbreak and healing set against the backdrop of exotic southwest Florida.
It’s January 1888. The small town of Fort Myers is buzzing about a possible visit from famous winter residents Mina and Thomas Edison. When the local newspaper reports that the couple needs a gardener for their riverside estate, nearly everyone lines up to apply.
For twenty-five-year-old Belle Carson, a painful childhood secret has kept her world — and her hopes for the future — small. But with lush gardens already sprouting in her imagination, Belle decides to fight for the job and the opportunity to move from a cramped storage room to a charming cottage next door to the Edison homes and laboratory. Yet, when her dark past threatens to destroy everything she has so carefully cultivated, she must battle harder than ever for her best life — and the chance to live it.
After the Rain features both a historical setting and timeless issues of yearning, forgiveness, and personal growth.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A young woman with a painful secret from childhood finds love, healing, and personal fulfillment as Thomas Edison's gardener in Lorenzini's bittersweet novel. In 1888, Belle Carson, 25, finds her niche when she is hired as gardener for the Edisons' winter estate in Fort Myers, Fla. Orphaned as an infant and adopted by a couple in town, Belle was tormented for years by her adoptive brother, Julius. She ran away at age 14 to live with a kindly widower and work in his store. Now, Belle is content she lives alone in a cottage on the Edison estate near her friend, Abigail, and starts a women's club and a romance with Boone, whose brother's tragic death left him emotionally broken and physically disabled. The action heats up when Julius tracks her down, and one night, in a drunken rage, he breaks into her cottage and attacks her. No longer a child, Belle fights back. There are serious repercussions from the violence, which Belle and Boone confront together, as they learn to trust one another. Well-drawn characters and descriptions of Edison's laboratory, the estate, and a mysterious listening device that allows Belle to eavesdrop on private conversations help to vivify this particular time period. This is a sure bet for readers drawn to small-town, historical settings. (BookLife)
Customer Reviews
Jersey girl in Fort Myers
I live in the Fort Myers area and am originally from NJ so when I heard Hoda and Jane talking about this book on the today show I immediately purchased it. I was not disappointed. Being familiar with both Edison houses it was great to take a look back in time. I love historical books espeacially when they are based on actual facts, I love learning from them there is always something you did not know. I now have to go back to the Edison Estate and look for the pink flowers. I think you should do a book signing at the house. Thank you I loved it.