Exceptionally well-written debut novel, driven by the experience of the emigrant in America. Frieda, an enigmatic cat, is the link connecting three generations of Greek-Americans, from a daunting trip across the ocean in the 1920s to present-day internet dating. A quirky, feel-good novel, loosely based on true stories.
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Summary
Exceptionally well-written debut novel, driven by the experience of the emigrant in America. Frieda, an enigmatic cat, is the link connecting three generations of Greek-Americans, from a daunting trip across the ocean in the 1920s to present-day internet dating. A quirky, feel-good novel, loosely based on true stories.
Description
Loosely based on true events, this multi-generational novel uses short, punchy chapters to provide a fragmented framework of one family, allowing the story to gradually come together as a whole.In 1920 Irini Gaspari, a young Greek woman, leaves behind all that she holds dear - her family, and particularly her friend Martha - and emigrates to America, bound for an arranged marriage to a man she has never met. After tragedy strikes and her closely-knit family gradually crumbles, little Marieta finds her own path into womanhood in the changing world of the 1950s and 1960s. Jumping forward to 2010, in Akron, Ohio two brothers, Herman and Richard, in spite of their very different personalities, share an awkward relationship with love. In their own de-romanticised ways, they are looking for 'the one.' They navigate romance, and take care of an ageing mother riddled with dementia and an obsession with her garden. The lives of these characters are interwoven through Frieda Kahlo: an enigmatic calico cat who drifts between reality and the spiritual world, connecting the generations of characters.
Critic Reviews
Praise for The Various Stages of a Garden Well-Kept: "All the more impressive when considering "The Various Stages of a Garden Well-Kept" is author R. R. Davis' debut as a novelist, this original and exceptionally well written collection of memorable characters, driven by the story of the emigrant in America, is an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to personal reading lists and community, college, and university library Contemporary Literary Collections." –– Midwest Book Review; “Almost otherworldly…‘The Various Stages of a Garden Well-Kept’ is a story of love and loss, but it is ultimately buoyed by the possibility of what fresh insights a new season might bring to light.” –– Bold Life
About the Author
Robert R. Davis grew up in a small town in northeast Ohio where he spent his childhood climbing trees and getting lost in his imagination. He went on to earn his BFA in drawing and MAT in Early Childhood Education. As a curious and restless young man, Robert followed the wind and moved throughout the country to work a variety of jobs, including environmental educator, art teacher, clown, starving artist, storyteller, backpack/canoe guide, and countless temporary jobs to satisfy his lust for life. After spending three years in the Caribbean, he eventually settled in western North Carolina with his wife, and Frieda the cat. Robert is now working with dementia patients, slipping off to coffee houses to pound away at his computer keyboard, baking banana bread to send to his daughter in college, and continuing to create artwork. Robert began writing as a result of encouragement from various college professors' off-hand remarks concerning his out-of-the-box approach to essays, which mirrored his approach to life. The Various Stages of a Garden Well-Kept was inspired by the tragic life of his Greek immigrant grandmother.
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