A Rose by the Door

September 24, 2001
Warner's new Christian list is off to a solid start with this story of faith and loss, wrapped around the motif of yellow pioneer roses. Lonely Beatrice Bartling is stunned when she learns that her estranged son, Nathan, has been killed in an accident. As she grieves, she becomes angry with God, who has "shut the door on her lifelong prayer" of seeing Nathan again. Bea's bitterness makes her cautious when the bedraggled young Gemma and her four-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Paisley, show up on her doorstep, homeless and claiming to be Nathan's family. In her overwhelming sorrow, Bea rejects them both, and they are soon arrested as vagrants. But as Mabel Perkins, the curator of the Garden County Pioneer Museum, observes, "No matter what happens at that house, those roses are always blooming." Redemption and hope are just around the corner. Although the novel starts slowly, the writing is strong and the narrative soon clips along at an even pace. Bedford is adept at avoiding the obvious; she astutely blends irony, humor and sweetness into the tale without allowing it to become cloying. There's a touch of mystery—who was Nathan's brother, Jacob, and why did Nathan reject his family?—and just enough withheld information to sustain the pace. Delightful descriptive passages and a cast of engaging characters will please readers who like happy endings and enjoy fiction with a spiritual dimension.

November 1, 2001
For years, visitors to Ash Hollow, NE, have knocked on Bea Bartling's door and asked to see her famous pioneer roses, which once marked the wagon train trails. Each time, Bea hopes to see her estranged son, Nathan, but he never appears. After learning that he has been killed in an accident, Bea loses her faith in God and hardens her heart to the woman and child who appear on her doorstep weeks later. Gemma Bartling was an unwed mother with a young daughter, Paisley, when she met Nathan, and his love helped her find security again. Now he's gone, and she has pinned her last hopes on his mother. It takes a mysterious gardener, a pastor who never gives up, and the open heart of a small girl to break through the shells surrounding both Bea and Gemma and lead them back to God. Both heartwarming and melancholy, Bedford's (Harvest Dance) poignant tale will find a home in all collections.

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2002
\deflang1033\pard\plain\f3\fs24 Bedford's \plain\f3\fs24" A Rose by the Door\plain\f3\fs24 is a weepy tale set in a small Nebraska town. Gemma, a young woman so desperate that her plight borders on the comic, and her infallibly cute daughter arrive on the doorstep of Bea Bartling days after Bea has learned of the death of her estranged son, Nathan. Gemma claims she was Nathan's wife. Bea has never heard of her and is so full of grief over Nathan's loss that at first she can't accept Gemma and the cute kid. When she does, blessings arrive like roses. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)