Family Tree audiobook

Favorite Quotes:It was one of those moments Gran used to call a key moment. Time didn’t simply tick past, unremarked, unnoticed. No, this was the kind of moment that made everything stop. You separated it from every other one, pressing the feeling to your heart, like a dried flower slipped between the pages of a beloved book. The moment was made of something fragile and delicate, yet it possessed the power to last forever. Memories are strange things, aren’t they? You can’t touch them and hold them in your hands, but they have incredible power. That’s the moment when everything changes. There’s before, and then after. And once a key moment occurs, there’s no going back to before. You make a choice, and it’s like ringing a bell. You can’t unring it. A key moment is a feeling. Your heart tells you. The point is, you have to pay attention. That was how love worked sometimes… It filled every nook and cranny of your heart, and then one day you realized it had gone away. She wondered where those feelings went. Maybe they trickled into the atmosphere to be inhaled by someone else, a stranger who suddenly saw someone across the room and instantly fell I love. My Review:This was my first experience enjoying Ms. Wigg’s amusing and dynamic storytelling and I immediately became an instant and ravenous fan. I adored her quirky characters, clever humor, and insightful narrative. Her storylines were poignant, entertaining, heart squeezing, intriguing, and thoughtfully written. The descriptive detail of her food preparations played havoc with my diet plan, ultimately causing me to run to the farmers market for my own fresh ingredients from her spark of culinary creativity. Her skillful wordcraft was a delight for all the senses and I doubt I could ever tire of feasting on her works.

5 - "There's before, and then after." Stars!Family Tree is the first book I have read by Susan Wiggs, it deals with the story of Annie Rush and in a really entertaining way. Told in the main from Annie’s POV, the story gives you her life pretty much from teen to present day, but sort of in a then & now time-frame, basically because the story pretty much begins with Annie making two shocking discoveries, one good and one bad, but then before being able to act on either, she is involved in an accident that leaves her in a coma for a year.Upon waking, she literally has to relearn how to function, and things that we as adults take for granted, like walking, writing and just being generally independent take a long time to become everyday normalcy for her again."It’s time to let go of the person you were. Try to recognize the new person emerging from all this."In flashbacks you learn of how Annie’s life had come to be at the point of her accident, how her family shaped her and how the adventures she went on while studying, turned into opportunities beyond her wildest dreams, opportunities that take her far, far away from her hometown of Switchback, Vermont. So it is a little disconcerting to discover when she wakes that is exactly where she has returned to.This is one of those all-enveloping books that draws you in, there is so much that goes on over the course of Annie’s story, it would be silly to try and cover it all in a review, but you get a whole heap of family, plenty of love, romance and heart break, and the journey of a woman trying to come to terms with her new reality after a life altering injury, and the repercussions of it. "Timing was never our strong suit."Annie’s story where Fletcher Wyndham is involved just had me rooting for the pair of them, even when every time they seemed to be getting it together, life in general, or a twist of fate pulled them apart again, it made for riveting reading. She fit against him like the missing piece to a puzzle he’d been trying for years to complete. This won’t be my last book by this author, I cannot recommend Family tree highly enough, it was just an absolute joy to read.ARC generously provided via Netgalley, and it was my pleasure to provide the above honest review.

The Family Tree by Susan Wiggs is a 2016 William Morrow publication. I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I love stories like this one! Life is full of errors in judgement, missed opportunities, and the fateful events that upend all our carefully constructed plans. Yet, sometimes those mistakes, those diversions, and forks in the road can lead back to the path we originally started out on and we realize we are exactly where we should be, where we want to be, in the place we belonged all along, with the person we were meant to be with, like coming full circle. But, we must be able to recognize it, accept it, work for it, and make it happen, which can mean a lot of soul searching and compromise. Annie Rush, from Switchback, Vermont knew what she wanted to do, and be, from a very young age. Her love for cooking comes from a close relationship to her Gran. She always knew her life’s work would evolve around food and cooking, in one way or another. When her father, who was never keen on running a Maple syrup farm, leaves his family to embark on his own adventure, it has a profound effect on Annie. But, she has her mom, her brother, and her beloved Gran, and then she meets Fletcher, the new boy in town. Fletcher works with Annie’s brother, and has somehow managed to achieve a ‘bad boy’ reputation that has Annie’s mother very concerned. Although Annie wanted to stay in Switchback with Fletcher, she honors her mother's wishes to attend college, with Fletcher's blessing and encouragement, always intending to return. However, fate, as we all know too well, can be fickle, and so decides to deal Annie and Fletcher a few cruel twists. Now, years later…Annie and her husband Martin have a wildly successful cooking show, and Annie has just discovered she is about to be a mom. But a horrific on-set accident will erase an entire year from Annie’s life. She wakes up to discover she is back home in Vermont, that the life she once knew is over, and she must start all over again, from scratch. Will Annie make the same mistakes all over again? Will fate lighten up and allow the stars to align just right this time for Annie and Fletcher?Some people feel as though this book would make a nice ‘book club’ read, and as I write this review, I would have to agree. Every character exhibited selfishness as one point or another. Fletcher, and Annie made terrible mistakes, compounded by life’s curveballs, resulting in heartbreaking consequences.Fletcher is somewhat immovable, stubborn, and tended to put others needs before Annie’s. Annie, was so distraught by what she had lost, she focused too hard on trying to get back some of what was stolen from her, once more putting her career in front of everything else, including Fletcher.The secondary characters, were also instrumental in creating the circumstances that lead to Annie and Fletcher’s romance going off course, and Annie’s parents realize they made some grievous errors in their own marriage, that effected Annie and each other. The events that unfold, as horrible as they seemed at the time, gave Annie and Fletcher one last chance to grab what fate, and poor choices, stole from them in the past. As with many of Susan Wiggs’ novels, I laughed, cried, got angry at the characters, yelled at them, then forgave them, gave them a group hug, and then I wiped away a happy tear knowing they all lived happily ever after. These types of books are just like comfort food for me. Cooking, food, family, love and romance is always a great cure for whatever ails you. It’s the kind of story that leaves you feeling all warm and fuzzy, content, and maybe even a little proud of the characters and all they learned and how well they turned out. Overall, this is a wonderful story, sure to warm your heart. 4 stars

How was this my first Susan Wiggs book?! No seriously, she’s written more than fifty novels so the fact that I haven’t read any of her books before is blowing my mind. Family Tree had everything I look for in women’s fiction; a wonderful lead character who you can root for, a story that weaves between the past and present, some mouth watering descriptions of food and a cozy setting in the forests of Vermont. What more could you want?! A dash of romance maybe? No worries, there’s that as well and it’s not the cliched, overdone type of love story, it’s raw and extremely true to life. Can you tell yet that I really liked this book?When Annie wakes up after being in a coma for a year there are some huge gaps in her memory and she has a long road to recovery. I adored her, she was upbeat and positive but also sarcastic and snarky which is exactly how I would expect someone in her shoes to behave. This is split pretty equally between Annie’s life as a teenager and in the present and I liked both timelines equally. I was totally invested in Annie and couldn’t wait to see what choices she made and how she moved forward and began anew.This would be a great choice for a book club, the discussion possibilities are endless. I would start with the food but that’s just me. All joking aside there is a strong emotional component to this book that raises many questions about family, love, loss, life and chasing dreams. This was a really easy book to escape into and one that made me a new fan of Wiggs.Family Tree in three words: Emotive, Delicious, and Genuine.

4.5 stars. It is always with a sense of delight that I pick up a new book by an author whose books I have always enjoyed. This one was like sinking down into a warm cozy bath on a cold day. It was almost everything I love in a good book.Annie is a wonderful character, going for her dreams but finding that things haven't worked out quite the way she thought. Her partner and husband Martin just might not be the best thing going for her. When an unusual accident lands her in a coma in hospital his narcissistic self does what he does best, looks after Martin.Annie's family are wonderful although not perfect. She has a Gran she idolised and loved - and although no longer alive she lives on in Annie. Annie's parents divorced when she was about ten years old and she has never quite gotten over her father walking out on his family. She sees her mother with a talent as an artist who has never fulfilled her dreams. She stayed back from going on to develop her abilities - choosing instead to care for her family. Yet when Annie is down it is family who stands by her.Fletcher is a person who has put his roots down in Switchback. He and Annie go way back, have loved each other and parted. Annie's desire to spread her wings and follow her dreams have meant they have had to part. Now with Annie back in town there is a possible second chance.As Annie recovers from injuries sustained in a freak accident she is determined and feisty. However she must start from scratch and discover who she is now and what she wants to do. It takes awhile but the journey just endeared her to me and I was delighted by all the steps she takes. The only thing I didn't like about the book was the Now/Then part of the storytelling. I'd be immersed in the now, and then would be taken back into the past. Necessary but just something I don't particularly like. I prefer a linear story. But I guess I'd be in the minority and the telling of a story just might have needed it.One of those books I just want to go on forever!

A special thank you to HarperCollins-William Morrow and Edelweiss for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Talented Susan Wiggs picks up with Annie Rush, from her prequel short story, The Key Ingredient, with FAMILY TREE —heartwarming and emotionally charged; Annie finds life does not always go as planned, and throws us some curve balls, when we least expect. Gran was a special person in Annie’s life. She had always taught her to remember the love. When things got hard and you wonder why you got married in the first place- to recall the love. Martin was a catch. He made her laugh. When they came up with ideas, they would work on it together with joy. He was her husband, her partner and an irreplaceable element in her life’s work. They had a TV cooking show. Martin was the chef, and Annie worked in production. Annie loved talking about her Gran. She missed her every day but the remembrances kept her alive in Annie’s heart. Gram had published a vintage cookbook back in the sixties. Her name was Anastasia Carnaby Rush. Her grandfather called her Sugar in honor of the family maple syrup brand, Sugar Rush.It was a regional best seller in Vermont and New England for years. Gram was a self-taught chef. Cooking was her love. Annie could picture her in the sunny farmhouse kitchen happily turning out meals for the family. She had a special way with food, and always said every recipe had a key ingredient. “That’s the ingredient that defines the dish.”Martin’s latest cookbook featured him looking delicious- the perfect combination of Wild West cowboy and Cordon Blue chef. Her passion had been born in her grandmother’s kitchen when Annie was too young to read or write. Even before Martin, she was about food. She met him when he had a food cart in Manhattan. She was too busy to be in front of the camera. Martin has a new sexy co-host side kick Melissa Barrett. Annie and Martin had been married eight years. The show had taken on a life of its own. The challenge was always staying exciting and relevant and on budget.Everything was going well and she is pregnant with their first child. Time didn’t simply tick past, unremarked, unnoticed. This kind of moment that made everything stop. The moment was made of something fragile and delicate, yet it possessed the power to last forever.She could not wait to tell Martin. She had to give him the message in person. A gift from the heart. He deserved a key moment of his own. She wanted to see his face when she delivered the magical words. A family.However, she is shocked by a betrayal. Disbelief. Disappointment. Horror. Revulsion. An out of body experience. Is this how it will end? In the process of what she has seen, she trips over cable and then the entire structure came crashing down.Her life is shattered. From then to now, Annie finds herself in a year- long coma. Grieving, Annie retreats to her family home in Switchback, Vermont. The maple farm. Her brother, mother, and four young nieces and nephews.A world she left behind years ago. A high school boyfriend, Fletcher Wyndham. Her first love. She had lost her virginity in the sugar house, and a boy she thought would be hers’ forever. Fate got in the way. Separated by space, time, and circumstances. Wiggs takes readers back to Annie’s life as a senior in high school, dizzy with possibilities. But life had a way of interfering with one’s plans. Things popped up unexpectedly, and suddenly a carefully plotted route had to be recalculated. Annie had always been a big believer in magic. An entire year wiped out. Her mind unfurled and slipped backward, seeking something that felt more real and substantial than the world she’d woken up to. From the life she left, and the one forcing her to return. Finding the key ingredient, acknowledging its source, and building a story around the dish was a simple enough concept, but the execution was complicated. There are gaps, but there are those who can help.Sugar Rush goes gourmet. Annie finally finds a way to reconnect with her past and her old dreams. The key ingredient was simple – to go back to the original dream. As Annie goes through her grandmother’s cookbook she felt her come alive and she too captures what she loved: the preproduction, recipe testing, shooting animating, and editing. From writer, producer, and star. The key ingredient to life lay beyond the kitchen. Was she ready to take the next step- a fresh approach to life? Second chances. Starting from scratch. Beginning anew from carefully chosen ingredients.As always, Wiggs weaves a magical story of the heart with nostalgic voices of the past and cozy comforting settings and yummy cuisine. From triumph over tragedy, love, loss, the pain of the past, first loves, and rediscovery. Makes you want to head for the lush New England autumn leaves, the cold brisk fresh air, and the apple cider. If you have not read Susan Wiggs, you are missing out! As I have mentioned before, I am waiting for a Hallmark TV series, based on her charming books. Her settings and characters come alive, with all the key ingredients for a satisfying series like Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove, and Sherryl Woods’ Chesapeake Shores. I am ready for Susan Wiggs’ close knit community in Vermont surrounded by family and friends with lots of joys, struggles, life, love, food, romance, spectacular settings, and heartwarming characters- small or large screen. (Be sure and include hot and sexy, Jesse Metcalfe and the adorable golden retriever, Axle.) Read More inspiration for Family Tree from Susan's Blog. JDCMustReadBooks

The Family a Tree by Susan is an entertaining, predictable read. The author, using numerous flashbacks fully developed the main charters for the reader. The characters were likeable and real. Nice read, especially if you like pure maple syrup.

Despite finding some parts of this book slightly predictable, I thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless! It was a beautifully engaging story of Annie's journey to discover herself and I was captivated from page one. I loved Annie as a character, something about her passions and dreams just spoke to me. I really loved how the story flipped between now and then, it added an incredibly interesting element to the story. I also really loved that it was partially about the maple syrup industry, maple syrup is a huge part of Canadian culture and it was so interesting to learn more about the process. I really enjoyed Annie and Fletcher's love story as well, despite finding it a tad predictable. But the predictability didn't affect my enjoyment that much and I really adored this story despite it!

Susan Wiggs is a master at creating believable second-chance-at-life-and-love stories that uplift & entertain! A perfect theme for this book—cue Bing Crosby at the piano to sing “The Second Time Around” . . . Love is lovelier the second time around,Just as wonderful with both feet on the ground.It's that second time you hear your love song sungMakes you think perhaps that love, like youth, is wasted on the young.Love's more comfortable the second time you fall.Like a friendly home the second time you call.Who can say what brought us to this miracle we've found?There are those who'll bet love comes but once, and yetI'm oh, so glad we met the second time around!

İkinc şans en sevdiğim temalardan..

Family Tree is the first women's fiction I have read in a very long time, but I have been wanting to try this author so I thought I would step a little out of my normal genre. I am happy that I did because I was pleasantly surprised by this book.Anastasia "Annie" Rush grew up in small town Vermont amidst sugar maple farms. Despite her parent's divorce, she had a close knit extended family all residing in the ancestral farmhouse on Rush Mountain and working to produce Sugar Rush maple syrup. With a love of photography and videography, and learning to cook at her Gran's side, Annie aspired to host and produce her own cooking show. However, Annie learned the hard way that attaining her dream wasn't all wine and roses. Waking up from a year long coma, she must work to rehabilitate her body and mind, which includes remembering her husband's betrayal and the loss of her unborn child. While it was difficult at times to watch Annie cope with her new reality, it was also heartening to follow her on the journey of personal growth.Susan Wiggs does a fabulous job with detail. I really appreciated the depth in which she described the maple syrup industry, the production industry, and even the cooking itself. I even picked up some cooking tips - like how to make the perfect scrambled eggs! I also enjoyed all the secondary characters, particularly Gran Rush and the whole Wyndham family. Thi s book really makes small town life sound appealing. I think I would like living in Switchback, Vermont!So the story was told in both the past and the present. We start out following Annie in the present where she is producing a cooking show, The Key Ingredient, with her husband, Martin. This transitions into Annie in a coma, then her recovery from same. Interspersed into the present story are flashbacks to Annie's teenage and college years - including a few flashes into the life of Fletcher Wyndham, Annie's first love. I really liked all of the present tense storyline, but I did lose interest a few times in the flashbacks. I also felt like the ending was a bit rushed, particularly the part dealing with Annie's ex-husband. I'm an attorney and even I didn't quite understand the settlement that Fletcher worked out. So I wish that would have been expounded upon. One thing this book did make me realize... I have gotten old! I used to stay away from women's fiction because the heroines tended to be older than me and I just didn't connect with the characters. So I was having a bit of a pity party today when I realized that this heroine was younger than me. When did I become women's fic instead of chick lit? Gah! (::flails::) It may be time for a mid-life crisis. I received an advanced copy of this book from William Morrow via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. 3.5 stars / No Heat. Full review posted at Bambi Unbridled.