The Memory Garden, a NOVEL by jessica Brodie

Christian women’s contemporary fiction

BOOK ONE IN THE DAHLIA SERIES.

Sometimes hope blooms in the most unexpected places.

Rock-bottom has a name for Rebecca Chastain, and it’s Dahlia, South Carolina.

Once a celebrated big-city journalist with a promising future, Rebecca now finds herself shattered—jobless, abandoned by her fiancé, and haunted by her own desperate attempt to escape it all. The small-town newspaper job in her granny’s hometown isn’t just a step down but a humiliating reminder of everything she’s tried to outrun. If not for reconnecting with her childhood friend, Josh, she’d already be gone.

Then there’s Devon—an eleven-year-old boy with eyes too old for his years, caring for his ailing Memaw while hiding stories he’s terrified to share.

When Rebecca’s reporting brings their lives together, something unexpected begins to take root in the barren soil of her heart. But Devon’s dangerous uncle is closing in, and time is running out for Rebecca to open her eyes and see what’s going on before it’s too late. As shadows lengthen over Dahlia, Rebecca must decide if she’ll retreat to safety or stand her ground for a boy who’s fighting his own battles—and perhaps find healing for herself in what she once called the last place on earth she’d ever return to.

Some gardens only bloom after the harshest storms.

The Memory Garden releases spring 2025. 

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The Memory Garden won the 2018 Genesis Award for Contemporary Fiction from the American Christian Fiction Writers and the 2024 Taking Flight Contest.