Green Heart

I recently finished reading Green Witch by Alice Hoffman, the second (and I believe last) book in a series about a girl named Green. I adore this book. This book is lovely and lyrical. The imagery is beautiful and the emotion is poignant. There is sorrow, yet there is hope.

When I finished this book I jumped on Amazon determined to buy it because I loved it that much and found that the first and second book are in a volume called Green Heart. Which in a way makes a lot of sense considering both books are very short.

I loved this book. LOVED IT. So when I read on my Goodreads review of the first novel, Green Witch, I was surprised to find that I didn't like it very much. The book is about Green who is haunted by the loss of her family and her way of life. Struggling to survive she find solace in her garden. From the back of the book, "Green retreats into the ruined realm of her garden. But in destroying her feelings, she also beings to destroy herself, erasing the girl she'd once been as she inks darkness into her skin. It is only through a series of mysterious encounters that Green can relearn the lessons of love and begin to heal enough to tell her story." Here is quote from my review, "It was an interesting story. I may have liked it better if Green could have seen faults in her family ... her moonlight sister was just too good to be true." However, I read it again (since I did buy it from Amazon) and I love it. A lot. I remember when I read this novel I was in a negative place and apparently I was incapable of liking anything, even something beautiful and refreshing like the Green series. (Makes me want to go back and reread some other novels that I didn't like but have been given good reviews by my friends whose opinions I trust. I suppose the opposite is also true. I may be too generous in my reviews of books when I am in a good place. Who knows.)

There was a lot of sorrow and sadness in the first book so maybe since I was feeling the same I didn't want to relate. However, in the second book she finds more hope. I love the 'witches' in the second book. All the stories she finds and records. It moves a bit slowly and then too quickly for me but I love the words. Hoffman has a beautiful way of describing what is happening. The words are lovely.

I still like the second book better.

I hope I can hone my skill so that I can write beautiful words. Now, off to write something of my own.