Isabel Fuller, a strong, once passionate woman, is deadened with grief by the death of her oldest son in the First World War, haunted by visions of him dying alone, and bitter at her husband for encouraging him to enlist. When a young, charismatic preacher arrives for a revival one summer, he awakens in Isabel an intense attraction and feelings long forgotten. When she finally succumbs to his seduction, their affair pushes Isabel’s marriage to the breaking point. In the Garden of Sorrows is a gripping, erotically charged story of loss and sorrow, anger and recrimination, and the redemptive power of love.
A “memorable debut” . . . . “Jewell entices with her multidimensional characters” in this “confident and dramatic family saga.” – Publishers Weekly
“The inspired detail, of farm work and weather, revival meetings, and community relationships that span generations, are gravid and quietly lovely, yet this novel also churns with passion and risk.” – Jayne Anne Phillips, award-winning author of Night Watch