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Mary Ellen TaylorFiction · Women's Fiction
Honeysuckle Season
Libby McKenzie is a wedding photographer who has lost her father, her marriage and several pregnancies in quick succession. The work gives her a reason to get up in the morning, and it also keeps her from looking too closely at her grief.
A wedding booking takes her to Woodmont, a historic estate owned by Elaine Grant. Elaine wants to open the property to the public and has hired Colton Reese, a young widower, to restore the grounds. She asks Libby to photograph the work as it goes on.
Libby is drawn at once to an old greenhouse covered in honeysuckle vines. As she gets to know the people around the estate and wanders its overgrown gardens, she finds the strength to go through her father's office. Among his papers is a letter that alters what she understands about her parents, about herself and about Woodmont.
This is contemporary women's fiction with a single protagonist, built around grief, family secrets and a neglected place slowly coming back to life. The mood is reflective and emotional, with a gradual uncovering of the past rather than a fast plot. The synopsis stops at the discovery of the letter.