Garden Angel

From Barnes & Noble

Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers
"The view from the attic bathroom always broke my heart a little, for it told the story of my family's own fall: our lost property and standing, our dwindling." So begins the story of Cutter Johanson, one of contemporary literature's most quirky and endearing heroines, and who, at 25 years old, is trying to hang on to a life she never really knew.

Descendants of southerner Henry Haynes Harris, the founder of the now defunct Sans Souci Mill, Cutter's family once lived on a grand estate. Now reduced to a dilapidated house and an overgrown family plot, the forlorn remains of the Harris homestead have been left to Cutter and her two siblings, who plan to cash out. But Cutter, unhappy with their decision, decides to sabotage the sale with the aid of two very unlikely assistants.

The glory of a past that may never be reclaimed is the theme of this unique and satisfying novel. This theme is invoked in the clothes Cutter rescues from her grandmother's old closet, in the chipped crystal and dishes she hides from her siblings, and in the "garden angel" that lies broken in the graveyard. At times wonderfully comic and sad enough to provoke tears, The Garden Angel is an addictive read, and an enthralling story filled with both loss and hope. (Fall 2004 Selection)

Publishers Weekly

Cutter and Elizabeth, two Florida women with little in common, forge a deep friendship in this crisp, unusual novel. Trouble strikes them both at once, in the form of Cutter's sister, Ginnie, who is in love with, and newly pregnant by, her English professor, Daniel, childless Elizabeth's husband. Elizabeth, tipped off by an anonymous caller, ventures to the house Ginnie shares with Cutter, who was named Catherine but took her father's name. It's Cutter whom Elizabeth finds at home, and their shared dismay over the disastrous affair instantly binds them. Set in Sans Souci, Fla., this debut novel is atmospheric in the way of Southern fiction, but it is also brand new. With casual skill, Friddle makes the case that who we like in life may be as critical as who we love. The friendship between Cutter and Elizabeth changes everything. Elizabeth's money will let Cutter keep the house she venerates but that her sister and her brother, Barry, want to sell. And Cutter's practicality wrests Elizabeth free of her notion of herself as an invalid recluse in the Emily Dickinson mold. The happy ending may seem saccharine to some, but the majority of readers are likely to feel that there's vinegar and sharp greens enough along the way to merit the rich sweetness. Agent, Judith Weber. (July) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Charming first novel tells a familiar story-a "horribly sticky" love triangle between a professor, his student, and the wife who helped him in his college years-but transforms a potentially trite subject into a comic delight. Cutter, 25, works two jobs, as a waitress at the Pancake Palace and as a reporter on what she calls the "dead beat," writing obituaries for the Sans Souci Citizen. Her great-grandfather established the mill in Palmetto, but three generations later, the family fortunes have gone downhill. Cutter is mindful of the family curse: "the minute they ventured out in the world seeking love, seeking more, the women in my family found nothing but trouble." Her beloved Gran, recently dead, had raised Cutter and her older sister and brother. Their father was lost in foreign waters in Vietnam at age 23. Three years later, their mother, "running out for a pound of sugar, a box of Ivory Snow and a pound of snap beans," collided with a three-wheeler. Now the other siblings want to sell the family estate, and Cutter is struggling to save the house and its "dead garden," where Gran is buried near the garden angel. Sister Ginnie is pregnant by her professor Daniel and needs money to cover her health care (or possibly an abortion). Brother Barry, who is in the Marines, wants to buy a new car. Daniel's wife Elizabeth has her own struggles against agoraphobia and the toil of writing a dissertation on garden imagery in Emily Dickinson's poetry. Through a series of odd circumstances, Cutter and Elizabeth end up in cahoots. Their unexpected friendship holds up even after Elizabeth discovers Ginnie is pregnant. Meanwhile, Cutter finds herself smitten with Curt, her boss at the newspaper. Heseduces her in a disarmingly inept love scene, but his mother, who owns the paper, will not be denied her society daughter-in-law. Cutter, Ginnie, and Elizabeth all endure enough romantic troubles to keep the plot spinning along. Winning characters and piquant wit, with an underpinning of graciousness: a standout. Agent: Judith Weber/Sobel Weber Associates