Traveling Light: A Novel by Lynne Branard

Traveling Light: A Novel.  Lynne Branard. Penguin Publishing Group. January 2017. 320 pp. ISBN #: 9781101989043.

Alissa has entered a rather strange contest to win a storage unit that has been abandoned.  What she finds, ironically, doesn’t seem to surprise her.  Instead she discovers the ashes of a deceased man, Roger Hart, and quickly decides she will return his ashes to his family or hometown.  She also is in need of a change and this strikes her as presenting innumerable possibilities.  No, it’s not the path most would take but it’s certainly an intriguing premise.

Little does she know that her eyes and heart are about to be opened, beginning when a strange young waitress, Blossom, decides to join her on the trip to Texas, as well as Alissa’s three-legged dog.   They discuss families as they travel and Alissa gets to meet some unique characters, like Blossom’s Dad. 

They meet fascinating people, some stereotypical, some odd.  They learn to go with the flow of whatever happens, including when their car starts misbehaving and all of Alissa’s car education helps them figure out what it is but not be able to fix it without help from elsewhere.

Meanwhile the man who abandoned Alissa a few days before the wedding keeps calling her and trying to hook up again.  But Alissa’s stronger, feistier and she’s not giving in to his charm.  Add to that her own father is dating a woman thirty years younger than he is, with two small children. And Alissa makes it clear that she doesn’t want to take over the newspaper her father owns and for which she wrote for a long time. 

What does she want to do?  Repair a boat.  “I don’t want to follow a script anymore…Everybody needs to listen to their own hearts…we should all decide on our own scripts.”  It seems that Alissa has learned to allow life to happen to her instead of directing life along the patterns her family has always followed, even though she really didn’t mind those patterns until now.

This is a quite unusual novel that reminded me of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road story, even though it really isn’t like that for most of the story of Kerouac’s journeys.  One even wonders if this change is because people are different in the West and the South.  One thing for sure is that Alissa and Blossom’s story will have you nodding your head up and down and at times holding still while questioning what has always been accepted.  What would it take for you to totally embrace life in different ways?  Lynne Branard helps the reader to begin his or her own journey, if one dares!

The Art of Arranging Flowers: A Novel by Lynne Branard

The Art of Arranging Flowers: A Novel.  Lynne Branard. Penguin Group (USA). June 2014. 320 pp.  ISBN#: 9780425272718.

Ruby Jewell has a heart of gold!  She’s a talented florist with her own business, a job that keeps her from the terrible grief of losing her sister.  She knows all of the residents of her town and their requests for the perfect arrangement for that special person, standard occasion or unique event make her a well-loved and respected friend to all.

Now Ruby begins to meet certain people whose lives she changes and vice versa. Readers will meet an astronaut, a real estate agent, a veterinarian, a man courting a local librarian, a woman seeking a cure for her cancer and a little boy who carries a question that is heart-rending!  While there are scenes of illness and death as well as love and communication about caring, the scenes remain light and are never maudlin!

This reviewer doesn’t know flowers so much and yet I could see how beautiful Ruby’s arrangements are.  She also knows the emotional qualities of each flower’s essence and so each is sent with a special quality for each receiver.  Clementine, her beloved dog, and Nora, who seems to have a psychic sense of what is happening behind each arrangement and recipient, make for a fascinating read. 

Ruby, however, who is so perceptive about others is gradually led by the other characters to realize she also has an unmet need, and the reader will be more than surprised to see how it is fulfilled.

The Art of Arranging Flowers: A Novel is a beautiful, special read in which characters bloom through sharing their lives much as the artfully arrange flowers bloom and glow through tender love and care! Delightful story!