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Where Lilacs Still Bloom

A Novel

Jane Kirkpatrick

Category: Fiction > HistoricalFiction > LiteraryFiction > General

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About Where Lilacs Still Bloom

One woman, an impossible dream, and the faith it took to see it through, inspired by the life of Hulda Klager
 
German immigrant and farm wife Hulda Klager possesses only an eighth-grade education—and a burning desire to create something beautiful. What begins as a hobby to create an easy-peeling apple for her pies becomes Hulda’s driving purpose: a time-consuming interest in plant hybridization that puts her at odds with family and community, as she challenges the early twentieth-century expectations for a simple housewife. 
 
Through the years, seasonal floods continually threaten to erase her Woodland, Washington garden and a series of family tragedies cause even Hulda to question her focus. In a time of practicality, can one person’s simple gifts of beauty make a difference? 
 
Based on the life of Hulda Klager, Where Lilacs Still Bloom is a story of triumph over an impossible dream and the power of a generous heart.
 
“Beauty matters… it does. God gave us flowers for a reason. Flowers remind us to put away fear, to stop our rushing and running and worrying about this and that, and for a moment, have a piece of paradise right here on earth.”

Praise

Praise for Where Lilacs Still Bloom

“When reading any of Ms. Kirkpatrick’s books, I become engaged, almost instantly, on many levels at once. Where
Lilacs Still Bloom is simultaneously a strong and gentle read of beautiful, spare language. It wooed and won me to Hulda’s story even as it coaxed me to look at my own life as well. Who am I staking up? Do I tend to my husband and my children as well as to my calling? The sweet message that lingers long after the book is closed is the promised truth of sowing and reaping, in gardens, and in life.”
      — Sandra Byrd, author of To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn

“Jane Kirkpatrick reimagines the true story of a nature-loving wife and mother who studied Luther Burbank and devoted herself to breeding new and improved varieties of lilacs. Families suffer, thrive, and evolve as new flowers emerge in a gentle tale as sweet as its fragrant garden.”
      — Jane S. Smith, author of In Praise of Chickens and The Garden of Invention

“Where Lilacs Still Bloom is a charming, delightful story of Hulda Klager’s courage and perseverance on many levels, her gentle defiance of convention, her triumph over natural and personal disasters, and her desire to be sure her work is truly God’s will. Neither the author’s nor Hulda’s use of botanical research ever overpowers Hulda’s story but makes plain for readers her patience and ruthless care in her quest for the blooms she envisions.”
      — Carol Buchanan, author of Wordsworth’s Gardens and winner of the 2009 Spur for God’s Thunderbolt: The Vigilantes of Montana

“Having worked with the history of the Thiel and Klager families for over six years now as a board member, I was excited to read how Jane gave the family members such character. I particularly enjoyed the relationship between Hulda and Frank and the way Jane portrayed the youngest daughter, Martha. I loved reading Where Lilacs Still Bloom and visualizing what it must have been like to live in that old house when Hulda and her family lived and gathered there.” 
     — Judy Card, genealogist and Woodland, Washington, historian

“Extraordinary book. Jane skillfully drops the reader into Hulda Klager’s loving, hardworking pioneer life. She chronicles
Hulda’s family and botanical triumphs and struggles. Thank you for this magical story.”
     — Rebecca W. Roberts, secretary of Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens

About Jane Kirkpatrick

Jane Kirkpatrick is a bestselling, award-winning author whose previous historical novels include All Together in One Place and Christy Award finalist A Tendering in the Storm. An international keynote speaker, she has earned regional and national recognition for her stories based on the lives of actual people, including the prestigious Wrangler Award from the Western Heritage Hall of Fame. Jane is a Wisconsin native who since 1974 has lived in Eastern Oregon, where she and her husband, Jerry, ranch 160 rugged acres.

Product Details

384 pages | Published by WaterBrook

On Sale Date: Apr 17, 2012

Trim Size: 5-1/2 x 8-1/4

Carton Quantity: 24

Sneak Peek

One woman, an impossible dream, and the faith it took to see it through. 

Click here to download the first chapter of Where Lilacs Still Bloom now.

Hulga Klager’s life-long passion for beauty and knowledge becomes the story of how the generosity of sharing one’s gifts transforms the lives of family, a community, and far beyond.

Click here to download the first chapter of Where Lilacs Still Bloom now.

News

Generosity

December 3, 2012

2 Corinthians 8:2 "…how, while passing through great trouble, their boundless joy even amid their deep poverty has overflowed to increase their generous liberality."  NIV
"The pressure triggered something totally unexpected: an outpouring of pure and generous gifts."  The Message

            I confess, I’m rarely happy in a time of trial. Yet Paul writes of the church in the Macedonia province and how the people’s true colors came through in their time of pressure and trouble. Instead of going inward and lamenting their sad state, they "pleaded for the privilege of helping out in the relief of poor Christians".  Their joy even amid deep poverty overflowed to increase their generosity. How did they do that, how did they draw upon such a spirit that witnessed to their love of Jesus by giving more than they could even afford?

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NEWS: Author Jane Kirkpatrick Featured in Oregonian

June 25, 2012

Historical fiction writer Jane Kirkpatrick, author of Where Lilacs Still Bloom, is featured in the Oregonian. To learn more about Kirkpatrick’s own real-life history and how she started writing novels, click here.

READING GUIDE: WHERE LILACS STILL BLOOM by Jane Kirkpatrick

March 25, 2012

When an unlikely book by famous horticulturalist Luther Burbank motivates turn-of-the-century housewife Hulda Klager to become a self-taught plant cultivator, she humbly seeks to share beauty through her creations.  But growing flowers in a time of practicality isn’t easy, and overcoming the skeptics, seasonal floods, and a series of family tragedies challenges every part of Hulda’s determination. She ultimately creates over 200 new varieties of lilacs by passionately pursuing the dream that God gave her—and by living a life of generosity and hope despite many trials.

Download the reading guide now

DOWNLOAD: Where Lilacs Still Bloom Devotionals

March 22, 2011

Jane Kirkpatrick is known for looking at fiction through the lens of strong women in our country’s history. The same is true for her latest book, WHERE LILACS STILL BLOOM, where she shares the life of Hulda Klager.

Hulga Klager’s life-long passion for beauty and knowledge becomes the story of how the generosity of sharing one’s gifts transforms the lives of family, a community, and far beyond.

From Where Lilacs Still Bloom:

“Beauty matters… it does. God gave us flowers for a reason. Flowers remind us to put away fear, to stop our rushing and running and worrying about this and that, and for a moment, have a piece of paradise right here on earth.”

Drawing on the themes of generosity, sorrow, kindness, and perseverance found in the life of this remarkable woman, Jane Kirkpatrick brings us devotional thoughts:

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