The best novels about family relationships with an emphasis on strong mother figures

This wonderful book contains many things that I love in a story; flowers, romance, and complex mother/daughter relationships.

Emancipated from a life in the foster care system, eighteen-year-old Victoria has learned not to trust anyone. She lives a solitary life, finding meaning and beauty in flowers and their unique language.

Opportunities to belong to someone come to her first in the form of Elizabeth, a woman with a broken past whose stubborn love refuses to let Victoria go, and later in Grant, who shares her passion for the language of flowers and has some trust issues of his own.

A story that by turns filled me with hope and broke my heart, this sweeping and skillfully told tale taught me as much about flowers and what they symbolize as it illustrated the power of forgiveness and the healing powers of both flowers and of love. 

I loved this book from start to finish. The collection of characters in this dysfunctional family were extremely well drawn and their misadventures kept me turning pages until the very end.

Polly springs to life in a curious, quirky mixture of tough and tender. Loveable Willow, her ten-year-old daughter, whose father died young, lives in fear that she will lose Polly too. Her friends’ mothers are all young and fun, but in her fifties when Willow was born, Willow fears Polly’s time is running out.

She longs to uncover the secrets of Polly’s past-secrets which Polly is determined to keep hidden. A wonderful story of the complex relationship between a mother and daughter, told with a lovely blend of warmth and wit.

I came across this little gem at a garage sale. I am not a big reader of YA fiction, but the blurb on the back jacket spoke to me, so I bought it. I’m so glad I did!

This astoundingly beautifully written book chronicles the journey of twelve-year-old Grace in the aftermath of her mother’s death. A free but tormented spirit, Grace’s “Mama” could never seem to put down roots after leaving her small town behind as a teen. But Grace longs for a real home.

After her mother’s tragic death, she goes to live with the grandmother she never knew in a town she has never set foot in. All she knows is that her grandmother sent her Mama away when she was young and pregnant.

I love small-town stories and the town and its characters come alive in this book in the most loving of ways as Grace finds herself on a treasure hunt of sorts, with clues to her mother’s past (and her own future) seeming to miraculously appear in the most unlikely places.

Her relationship with her grandmother is strained at best, but her grandmother, along with the entire town, nurtures Grace with the patience and love of a master gardener, causing the rocky soil of Grace’s heart to bear the fruits of love, community, and forgiveness.  

This book is my favorite in Lisa Wingate’s Tending Roses series.

I could so relate to Karen Sommerfield and her struggles. Karen’s life is falling apart. The passion in her marriage has cooled, she is unable to have the children she longs for, and on the same day she receives frightening news from her doctor and is let go from a company she put her whole heart and soul into.

On impulse, she returns to her grandmother’s farm in the Ozarks to try and regroup. Right away the old tensions resurface between her and her sister, who seems to have it all together, and Karen feels returning may have been a mistake.

But then she begins to hear her grandmother’s wisdom whispering in the century-old sycamore trees and finds the courage to examine her heart and reconstruct her life.

I loved that Grandma Rose’s influence lived on in her granddaughters even after her passing. This beautiful story gives the reader hope that no matter how broken, lives and relationships can be glued back together with love.

This lovely story is one of loss, tragedy, hope, family, and new beginnings that come in the most unexpected ways.

Seventy-five-year-old Sarah has a good life. She’s been married to Charles, a man she adores, for fifty years. She assumes they will live out the rest of their lives together in the tranquil setting of their Vermont country home. But when Charles unexpectedly passes away, Sarah’s beautiful life is shattered.

With her children grown and raising families of their own, she finds herself alone in her big house, no one to nurture, no place to put her love. Until a collection of displaced characters begin to find shelter in her home. Working through her grief, Sarah discovers interests she never took the time to explore, and in pouring into others, soon finds her own cup overflowing. 

This story provides perspective on what things are important, and what are not. So many women, through death or divorce, find themselves alone later in life. This heartwarming story illustrates that it’s never too late and you’re never too old to recreate yourself!