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Book Summary and Reviews of A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner

A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner

A Fall of Marigolds

by Susan Meissner

  • Readers' Rating (5):
  • Published:
  • Jan 2014, 0 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

A beautiful scarf, passed down through the generations, connects two women who learn that the weight of the world is made bearable by the love we give away....

September 1911. On Ellis Island in New York Harbor, nurse Clara Wood cannot face returning to Manhattan, where the man she loved fell to his death in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Then, while caring for a fevered immigrant whose own loss mirrors hers, she becomes intrigued by a name embroidered onto the scarf he carries…and finds herself caught in a dilemma that compels her to confront the truth about the assumptions she's made. Will what she learns devastate her or free her?

September 2011. On Manhattan's Upper West Side, widow Taryn Michaels has convinced herself that she is living fully, working in a charming specialty fabric store and raising her daughter alone. Then a long-lost photograph appears in a national magazine, and she is forced to relive the terrible day her husband died in the collapse of the World Trade Towers…the same day a stranger reached out and saved her. Will a chance reconnection and a century-old scarf open Taryn's eyes to the larger forces at work in her life?

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Overall, what did you think of A Map to Paradise? (no spoilers, please!)
I found the A Map to Paradise disappointing. I had previously read A Fall of Marigolds which I loved. I almost felt like the books were written by different authors. A Map to Paradise was boring for two thirds of the book. Nothing much happens. It is like a long introduction to the characters and...
-Dorothy_Levi


Have you read other books by this author, and if so, how do they compare to this one? Is there another book or author you feel has a similar theme or style? What audience would you recommend A Map to Paradise to?
I've read other books by Susan Meissner with "Fall of Marigolds" & "As Bright As Heaven" being my favorites. I'd put "Map to Paradise" somewhere in the middle. I liked that she chose a topic & time period that hasn't been explored much by historical fiction writers & I'm glad she didn't base it o...
-Carol_Ann_Robb

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This information about A Fall of Marigolds was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

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Author Information

Susan Meissner

Susan Meissner is the USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction with more than three-quarters of a million books in print in eighteen languages. Her novels include The Nature of Fragile Things, starred review Publishers Weekly; The Last Year of the War, a Library Reads and Real Simple top pick; As Bright as Heaven, starred review from Library Journal; Secrets of a Charmed Life, a 2015 Goodreads Choice award finalist; and A Fall of Marigolds, named to Booklist's Top Ten women's fiction titles for 2014. She is also RITA finalist and Christy Award and Carol Award winner. A California native, she attended Point Loma Nazarene University and is also a writing workshop volunteer for Words Alive, a San Diego non-profit dedicated to helping at-risk youth foster a love for reading and writing.

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