Perennials

From New York Times bestselling author Julie Cantrell comes a story of family and the Southern roots that call us home. If Julie Cantrell isnt on your reading list, she should be. Lisa Wingate Years ago, Lovey chose to leave her family and the South far behind. But now that shes returned, shes realizing things at home were not always what they seemed. Eva Sutherlandknown to all as Loveygrew up safe and secure in Oxford, Mississippi, surrounded by a rich literary history and her mothers stunning flower gardens. But a shed fire, and the injuries it caused, changed everything. Her older sister, Bitsy, blamed Lovey for the irreparable damage. Bitsy became the homecoming queen and the perfect Southern belle who could do no wrong. All the while, Lovey served as the family scapegoat, always bearing the brunt when Bitsy threw blame her way. At eighteen, suffocating in her sisters shadow, Lovey turned down a marriage proposal and fled to Arizona. Free from Bitsys vicious lies, she became a successful advertising executive and a weekend yoga instructor, carving a satisfying life for herself. But at forty-five, Lovey is feeling more alone than ever and questioning the choices that led her here. When her father calls insisting she come home three weeks early for her parents 50th anniversary, Lovey is at her wits end. Shes about to close the biggest contract of her career, and theres a lot on the line. But despite the risks, her fathers words, Family First, draw her back to the red-dirt roads of Mississippi. Lovey is quickly engrossed in a secret projecta memory garden her father has planned as an anniversary surprise. But the landscaper whos also working on it is none other than Fisher, the first boy she ever loved. As she helps create this sacred space, Lovey begins to rediscover her roots, the power of second chances, and how to live perennially in spite of lifes many trials and tragedies.