The Memory Garden, a NOVEL by jessica Brodie

Christian women’s contemporary fiction

New York City journalist Rebecca Chastain feels like a failure—in relationships, work, and a failed suicide attempt. How can she save her ten-year-old friend from secret dangers?

Rebecca Chastain is at a breaking point. She’s lost her job as a respected big-city journalist, the man she thought she’d marry has left her for another woman, and she’s almost succeeded in taking her own life. At rock bottom, she’s forced to grab the only rope that remains: a job running the weekly small-town newspaper in wholesome, squeaky-clean Dahlia, South Carolina, her granny’s hometown and the last place Rebecca ever planned to set foot again. Every single thing about Dahlia grates on her, from the white picket fences and too-perfect families to how everybody seems to know everything about everyone. Miserable, she’s itching for a way out the moment she arrives.

Devon Robinson is ten years old, and already he has the world on his shoulders. Living in poverty on the outskirts of town and the caretaker of his elderly Memaw after his mother has died, every day brings a new struggle. But even Devon’s strong faith can’t stop him from floundering when his abusive drug-dealing uncle moves in, and Devon’s life goes from difficult to downright dangerous.

When Rebecca and Devon are thrown together in a series of articles that shine light on the shady undercurrents of Dahlia, their friendship begins to transform each of them. Only, Devon has some terrifying secrets he’s not sharing with anyone—not his pastor, not friends, and certainly not Rebecca.

Can Rebecca find the courage to take first steps toward faith? And can she do it in time to help Devon before it’s too late?

The Memory Garden is in the proposal phase being circulated to publishers by her agent, Bob Hostetler of The Steve Laube Agency.