From New York Times bestselling author Julie Cantrell comes her fourth novel, Perennials. A story rich in detail and lilting storytelling, Perennials is a beautiful story about a woman (Lovey), her tenuous relationship with her sister and hometown, and the discoveries she makes regarding pain, love, and family.
From the Publisher:Eva—known to all as Lovey—grew up safe and secure in Oxford, MS, surrounded by a 
rich literary history and her mother’s stunning flower gardens. But a shed fire, and the injuries that it caused, seemed to change everything . . . especially when her older sister, Bitsy, blamed Lovey for the irreparable damage.
Bitsy became the cheerleader. The homecoming queen. 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 sister’s shadow, Lovey turned down a marriage proposal and fled to Arizona—a place as far from Mississippi as she could find.
In time, she became a successful advertising executive and a weekend yoga instructor, carving a satisfying life for herself, free from Bitsy’s vicious lies. But now that she’s turning 45, Lovey is feeling more alone than ever and questioning the choices that have led her here.
When she gets a call from her father insisting that she come home three weeks early for her parents’ 50th anniversary, Lovey is at wits’ end. She’s about to close the biggest contract of her career, and there’s a lot on the line. But despite the risks, her father’s words, “Family First,” draw her right back to the red-dirt roads of Mississippi.
Lovey is welcomed home by a secret project—a memory garden her father has planned as an anniversary surprise for her mother. As she helps create this sacred space, Lovey begins to rediscover her roots, learning to live perennially in spite of life’s many trials and tragedies.
My Take:To cut to the chase, Perennials is a story I highly recommend. Cantrell’s trademark poignancy and subtlety weave together to create a moving story that details one woman’s journey through pain and on toward the other side. Without trivializing difficulties, Cantrell successfully portrays emotional injury and suffering that are not easily explained, nor fixed. Lovey’s relationship with her sister is a painful one (even painful to read) – full of frustrations and moments you can’t understand the hatred spewing from one character onto the other. It echoes beautifully the reality of life – the unfortunate fact that we are often viciously maimed by those who should love us best. And in the realistic world of irony – it speaks of how often we’re ignorant of the reason others lash against us.
Perennials offers no pat answers. Lovey’s relationship with her sister (Bitsy) is raw and real and as frustrating as some of our own family relationships. The regrets Lovey harbors also speak true of our own seasons of sorrow and debilitating pain. Sometimes life just doesn’t make sense. Sometimes life tries to kill you where you stand. And sometimes family is the biggest disappointment of all. This story is a testament to how our lives are a continual cycle through which everything plays a part…even devastating pain.
Perennials is a contemporary work I’d highly recommend – particularly for those who enjoy deep women’s fiction reads. If you’ve enjoyed Cantrell’s other novels, you should love this one. And if you haven’t yet dived into one of her books, pick up any of the four – they’re all excellent. (Though Into the Free should be read before its sequel, When Mountains Move).
Perennials is scheduled to be released by Thomas Nelson on November 14, 2017.
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