Forgotten Flowers
A Novel of Redemption and Second Love
By: Michael J Sullivan, Jackson Gordon (Editor), Rebstock Raeghan
Paperback | 3 December 2018
At a Glance
242 Pages
21.01 x 14.81 x 1.4
Paperback
$34.09
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With his wife’s memory lost due to a traumatic brain injury, Daniel Kilgore volunteered at Magnolia Garden, an assisted living facility, hoping he could learn how to resurrect his wife’s fading memories. He was drawn to three residents, Delores Samuels, Mary Hillman, and Sandra Cotton. Why were they placed there, only to be forgotten? Daniel knew they had lives that deserved to be remembered. Mary’s husband, George, Sandra’s son, Jim, and Delores’s son Fred would endure their own emotional epiphany causing them to go to the Gardens for atonement. Would it be in time? His wife’s caretaker, Dr. Jane Lincoln, would expose Kilgore’s own emotional confliction between his past and their future. He would struggle with the memories of his past and the chance to make new memories.
With unconscionable greed, George Hillman destroyed his wife’s dream of being a mother. As her health and mind faded, and faced with round the clock home care, George placed Mary in Magnolia Gardens. He took solace in the arms of Gilda Ellis, a decision that would have dire consequences.
Sandra Cotton was more of a mother than a grandmother to her son, Jim’s two children, Samantha and William. She soothed their scrapes and bruises, eased the pains of puppy love, and nurtured their dreams. An unwed mother at eighteen was more than Jim’s wife, Carrie would take. Samantha was sent to live with her sister in North Carolina and put the baby up for adoption. The sound of Samantha's voice, hearing her laughter was the very air her grandmother lived for, without it Sandra wallowed in depression, and eventually lost any sense of reality. Through a friend, Jim and Carrie placed Jim’s mother in Magnolia Gardens.
Delores Samuels struggled to live on her own. Her son, Fred, traveled extensively due to work and had little time to look in on her. Fred’s wife, Shelia, was devoted to herself and offered no relief. Delores’s other son, Mitchell and his wife, Brenda, were her primary caretakers. Mitchell’s untimely death in an automobile accident in which Brenda held Shelia responsible for forced Fred to focus on his mother’s decline mental state. Sandra’s care was more than Brenda and Fred could handle. Sandra’s doctor recommended they place Sandra in Magnolia Gardens.
He volunteered at Magnolia Gardens to give dignity and worth to the forgotten. Learning to draw out old memories from frail minds was Daniel Kilgore’s other reason. His wife, Vivian, a paraplegic was suffering from memory loss. A visit to his mother would clear the other.
When Brenda Samuels told Fred about her visit with his mother, Fred faced his failings. He didn’t like what he saw. When she needed him the most, Fred had failed his mother, but no more.
Fate would play a cruel hand in the three men’s plan, but she would be much kinder to Daniel and Jane. She convinced him old memories and new ones were not mutually exclusive. He convinced her risk making new ones.
Industry Reviews
Forgotten Flowers
By Michael Sullivan
San Francisco Book Review
, $null, 242 pages, Format: Trade
Star Rating: 4 / 5
When Daniel Kilgore's wife, Vivian, starts experiencing memory problems after a car accident and the possibility of an aggressive form of dementia, Daniel is hoping, with the right help, her memory will improve. As a result of his wife's problems, and hoping to see how others with similar problems are coping, he volunteers at Magnolia Gardens, a retirement home in South Carolina, which caters to those with dementia.
Initially, I was a little concerned that this would be a terribly sad story. As my own mother had just passed away from a long battle with cancer a few weeks before receiving this book, I wasn't sure what to expect. I was, therefore, surprised to find this book to be both thought-provoking and engaging. There were sad aspects to the story, which is no surprise, considering the subject matter, but I actually found this book to be full of interesting characters who I could relate to, having recently been a caregiver to my mother.
I thought Mr. Sullivan provided a realistic look at how people react to long-term illness. The families of the patients had characteristics that were very familiar to me. I also found that the dialogue throughout contained the appropriate level of emotion. In fact, I found myself both laughing and crying while reading. I had a good laugh on page 54, when Mr. Sullivan mentioned his previous review at San Francisco Book Review.
One of the things I really enjoyed about this story was the fact that the characters seemed so real. I almost expected them to walk off the page and into the room with me. I thought this was especially the case with the main characters, Daniel Kilgore and his friend, Jane Lincoln. The fact that I was able to form a real attachment to the characters means that this story is one that will stay with me for some time.
If there was one thing that didn't really strike a cord with me ... At times, the transition within the story from one set of events and characters to another was perhaps not as smooth as it could have been. I had to stop and check or remind myself that I was now reading about another set of characters.
Having said that, this was a book I enjoyed reading. I especially liked the fact that it wasn't predictable and that there were some unexpected twists as well. Mr. Sullivan's best attribute as a writer seems to be the ability to create the perfect emotion through good dialogue and well-crafted scenes. Of course, this makes me wonder what he will be writing next.
Reviewed by Susan Miller
San Francisco Book Review
Title page
Copyright
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part One -
The flower sits among others whose time has come.
Once radiant and regal in appearance, emitting a heavenly sweet fragrance.
Chapter 1 - Magnolia Gardens
Chapter 2 -Â The Beginnings of Guilt
Chapter 3 - Daniel’s plan
Chapter 4 - Dolores Samuels’ path to Magnolia Gardens
Chapter 5 - Mary Hillman’s path to Magnolia Gardens
Chapter 6 - Sandra Cotton’s path to Magnolia Gardens
Chapter 7 - Kilgore’s friends
Chapter 8 - The Nightmare
Chapter 9 - The Failures
Chapter 10 - Confliction
Chapter 11 - Maternal betrayal
Chapter 12 - Vivian’s gift
Part Two -
Its color is gone, petals faded and frail,
it lingers on, forgotten with the coming of a new spring.
—Michael J. Sullivan
Chapter 13 - Kilgore’s project
Chapter 14 - The Set-up
Chapter 15 - Friends
Chapter 16 - Confrontation
Chapter 16 - The Meetings
Chapter 18 - Dolores
Chapter 19 - The Story
Chapter 20 - Revelation
Chapter 21 - The Epiphany
Chapter 22 - A Trip to Redemption
Chapter 23 - A Need to Finish
Chapter 24 - Destiny
Chapter 25 - New Beginnings
Chapter 26 - Nine Months Later in the Spring
Epilog
The Author
A Note of Thanks
ISBN: 9780996475594
ISBN-10: 0996475591
Published: 3rd December 2018
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Number of Pages: 242
Audience: General Adult
Publisher: Publish Authority
Dimensions (cm): 21.01 x 14.81 x 1.4
Weight (kg): 0.32
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