Weekends With The Sunshine Gardening Club is the fifth novel by best-selling Australian author and publisher, Sophie Green. After fourteen years away from her Queensland hometown of Noosa Heads, Cynthia Scheffer has finally managed to extricate herself from the domestic violence that blighted her second marriage. The horror of it was so consuming, it drove her then sixteen-year-old daughter Odette back to her father in Australia, and Cyn’s contact with her family and friends has been allowed to dwindle, lest it infect those happy memories.

Back from LA, she has some repair work to do. Now nineteen and pregnant, Odette is virtually estranged and refusing to listen to advice, while Cyn can only hope her best friend, Lorraine will forgive her ongoing neglect. Also sitting heavily on her conscience is her absence during her recently-deceased mother’s illness and death. Too late, Cyn is now discovering things about Diane Scheffer that she never knew, like her participation in the Sunshine Gardening Society.

Despite having not a moment to spare with an overworked, over-committed handyman husband, friction between her typically chore-evading sullen skateboarder teen and his sensitive pre-teen brother, and a difficult and somewhat imperious mother-in-law, Lorraine Karras finds herself roped into helping tidy up the rather derelict garden of a recently-widowed young mother.

Cyn has urged her to come along, introducing her to the irrepressible Shirl, a passionate proponent of Australian Natives, and ever-friendly Barb, who represent the Sunshine Gardening Society, a group of volunteers who help out in the gardens of those who can’t manage. As well as it being a break from her family duties, Lorraine’s surprised to find herself enjoying getting her fingers in the dirt in this most therapeutic of activities.

After nursing him for two years, Elizabeth is understandably devastated by her husband’s death, and her grief is a daily burden, especially with young Charlie to look after. With Jon’s beloved garden in a mess, she warily but gratefully accepts the help these volunteer ladies bring. In time she joins them in other gardens, and their kindness offsets the casual cruelty that one of her church congregation metes out as charitable pity. When she gets a job, she finds an empathetic ear, and all this helps her to find a sense of her own purpose

Having both dumped and been dumped, a heart-broken Kathy has fled Melbourne, leaving behind an ex-husband, two adult children and an ex-lover. She’s gone from restaurant manager to waitress, and is taking too much solace in alcohol. When her Saturday walk takes her past a group of women tidying up a garden, a friendly smile draws her in, and before she knows it, she’s part of the Sunshine Gardening Society too.

Each of the women faces challenges of varying proportions: becoming a grandmother at forty, the threat of losing the family home to a partner’s bad investment, or trying to put down roots as a newcomer. Within their group, they find common ground that leads to friendship, understanding, sound advice and support. They gain confidence, strength and sometimes, a new perspective.

Once again, Green gives the reader characters who appeal for all the little faults and failings that are integral parts of their generosity and loyalty, who face realistic problems to which there aren’t instant solutions. The final pages don’t present resolutions neatly tied with a bow, but possibilities and hopes. And what a wonderful idea this garden society is! Definitely something that others seeking to do some good could emulate.

Green gives her characters insightful observations and advice they can apply to their own lives, offered in the form of delightful gardening metaphors: “See these weeds? We have to get them out so the garden can reach its full potential” and “One thing she’s learnt, being a Sunshine Gardener: you have to keep turning over your own soil so that it doesn’t get old and you don’t stay stuck thinking and doing what you’ve always done” and “If leaves are dying it’s best to get rid of them – they’re going to die anyway and the plant doesn’t need to try to keep them alive” are examples.

Green’s characters get right into your heart, and each time you have to put it down, this is a novel you really look forward to picking up again. An undiluted joy to read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by Hachette Australia.