James Nealy is haunted by irrational fears and inescapable compulsions. A successful software developer, he’s thrown himself into a new goal–to finally conquer the noise in his mind. And he has a plan. He’ll confront his darkest fears and build something beautiful: a garden. When he meets Tilly Silverberg, he knows she holds the key…even if she doesn’t think so. After her husband’s death, … death, gardening became Tilly’s livelihood and her salvation. Her thriving North Carolina business and her young son, Isaac, are the excuses she needs to hide from the world. So when oddly attractive, incredibly tenacious James demands that she take him on as a client, her answer is a flat no.
When a family emergency lures Tilly back to England, she’s secretly glad. With Isaac in tow, she retreats to her childhood village, which has always stayed obligingly the same. Until now. Her best friend is keeping secrets. Her mother is plotting. Her first love is unexpectedly, temptingly available. And then James appears on her doorstep.
Away from home, James and Tilly forge an unlikely bond, tenuous at first but taking root every day. And as they work to build a garden together, something begins to blossom between them–despite all the reasons against it.
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BOOK REVIEW: The Unfinished Garden by author, Barbara Claypole White~
Audiobook
First of all, I’d like to thank Ms. Claypole White for creating this endearing story of small-town English life. A truly engaging story that kept me entertained throughout, with it’s careful attention to detail to both the serious and lighthearted elements that have …
This could be a very short review: “Author Barbara Claypole White has written a perfect book. Read it.”
Seriously, everything about this story is perfect: the words, the phrases, the emotions, the characters and all the interactions between them. I listened to an audiobook copy and the narration is perfect too. There is conflict and sorrow …
I fell in love with James when The Unfinished Garden first released. I still feel that way! A wonderful book.
I really want a sequel to this story and I never say that! I love James, Isaac and Tilly! I want to know more! I listened to this wonderful story on Audible and absolutely love it!
The Unfinished Garden is my first Barbara Claypole White novel and I wonder to myself after reading it why such a wonderful book had not crossed my radar sooner.
After reading the synopsis on the back of the book, you really don’t know that you are about to enter into a novel about some very damaged people with very real problems. There is at …
Tilly and Isaac were quite the team, though I couldn’t help but wonder what she was hiding from. I mean, I see she’s been through a traumatic experience, and she has her little boy to think of, but there was definitely something else there…a premonition that gets proved more than right later on. As for my initial reaction to James …
I had read Barbara Claypole White’s three most recent books before reading her first book The Unfinished Garden. Once again I was drawn to her flawed yet likable characters … in this case Tilly and James. I especially related to the character of Tilly since she has scoliosis like I do. I have been an avid reader for decades yet I never …
e Unfinished Garden IS a great audiobook ! I loved the story but better yet the narrators were excellent and I listen to a lot of audiobooks! So don’t miss this one
I would have never guessed that a story about OCD and Dirt could be so intriguing and un-putdownable
Have you ever read a book that made perfect sense and hit you in all the right places? Barbara Claypole White’s, THE UNFINISHED GARDEN, did just that for me. This is a wonderful romantic story about James Nealy and his OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder), panic and anxiety issues and how he finds Tilly Silverberg, a widow who harbors guilt and …
A MUST READ! This book may have been her first but Barbara Claypole White has grabbed my heart! This book shows her empathy and knowledge of mental illness interwoven into a story as intricate and beautiful as a spider’s web. An incredible story about love, loss, secrets anger and finally hope. It is exactly the title The Unfinished Garden. As …