Roses & Daisies is a wonderful story told from the perspective of seven different people. It is the story of Rose, a little girl who is the only child of Laurel and Doug. She was visiting her "Gamma", Sharon, and together they were making a batch of cookies. It had been raining but the rain had stopped and Rose and Sharon were going to have a picnic lunch in the tree house in the back yard. Rose went out to climb into the tree house, she fell, hit her head and died instantly. Her death affected everyone who knew her. We get to read how Sharon, Margaret, Laurel, Doug, Linden, Olivia and Perry are coping with Rosie's death.

Sharon is the mother of twins, Laurel and Linden. Her neighbor, Margaret, is a mystery to her but she tolerates her and even learns to love and accept and respect her. Doug is Laurel's husband and Olivia is Linden's wife. Perry is their 12 year old son and very close to his aunt Laurel. Sharon, Laurel, and Perry all blame themselves for Rosie's death and deal with it in different ways.

The grief is too much for Laurel who after several days in bed gets into her car and leaves her home on Vancouver Island to go on a Canadian cross country road trip. Doug and Linden find out that she is as far east as Montreal so they get on a plane to go find her. Doug is terrified of being in a plane but deals with his fear in order to find his wife. Linden and Laurel have a twin connection that helps him communicate with her. Things get tense at the end and Linden has everyone praying for Laurel's safety.

There is humor in this sad story. The scene at the airport and on the plane were something I could relate to. I cried and laughed all through the book. It was hard to put down and I stayed up past midnight to finish it. I think that anyone who has lost a loved one, especially a child, will be able to read this story and relate to it. It is very well written and edited and the characters are well developed. I highly recommend it and advise that as you read it you have some tissues handy.

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Marilee McQuarrie
May 1, 2006