This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite
Verlaine Crawford created her own secret garden, one to rival the garden that inspired Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden. I have a secret garden, too, created similarly out of love and respect for all that is beautiful and profound in nature. Crawford’s Endless Shades of the Mystical Rose pays tribute to her secret garden and the love that both inspired and challenged the emotions she experienced while living in a home that was her castle in more ways than the name it was given: High Castle. There she was able to write, travel, share her mystical inner self with others seeking solace, and create a comforting venue where art and nature could thrive. That was before it came crashing down, metaphorically speaking, when her husband and love of her life informed her that he’d found someone else. It was the beginning of a new emotional journey of self-discovery and redefining one’s inner self. But, through it all, the roses and flowers bloomed with perfection and beauty: “We are that rose of infinite color/ And at our center, the rose does flower./ We are blossoming forth for all to see/ Let us laugh and rejoice to be free.”
Verlaine Crawford’s Endless Shades of the Mystical Rose: A Poetic Personal Journal of Life and Love, is a tender and compassionate poetic look at one person’s journey through love, grief, and redefining. The poems are mostly rhyming verse; simple messages of mystical connectivity with the natural world, particularly with roses. Each poem is accompanied by a spectacular photograph of a rose, or a collection of roses, adding a visual dimension to the presentation of the poet’s journey through the many stages of love and all that is beautiful. Hers is a healing journey, confronting the deeper issues of love and loss. The unbridled connection between love, life, and, yes, roses, is cleverly expanded by metaphor in verses like this: “Focused like a magnifying glass,/ we study the most minute details./ We sense, see, smell, and feel/ a rose and develop energy in motion,/ e-motion around the concept of Love.” Powerful words. This is a book to enjoy over time, to savor with compassion, and to reflect on all that we find relevant to our own lives. An absolutely deeply beautiful, sublime book.
