The Memory Gardener

Donohue (How to Eat a Cupcake) spins a delightful tale centered on a gardener with a magical ability. As a girl many years earlier, Lucy Barnes discovered that she can sense which flower or herb will trigger a powerful memory in someone else. Her late mother warned her about the dangers of intervening in the lives of others by using her gift. Now, while restoring the historic plantings and pathways at a Northern California retirement home that was once a glorious mansion, she gets to know the residents and staff and decides to help them, defying her mother’s warning. She gives a vanilla-scented flower to one resident, a former pastry chef forced into retirement by his severe arthritis, who’s inspired to team up with another resident to open a café. Others who benefit from Lucy’s interventions include a talkative, sociable woman and her nearly mute friend who recovers her former vigor. The way the residents return to life under Lucy’s influence is uplifting without being cloying, and the plot ramps up when the residents are threatened with eviction and band together to fight back. It’s a satisfying feast for the senses. Agent: Elisabeth Weed, Book Group. (Nov.)