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The Moonflower Vine by Jetta Carleton is one of the few books I know I will reread in my lifetime. The writing is as effortless and lovely as a summer day laced with warm breezes and fragrant flowers.Carleton's language flows and her descriptions are magnificent. The writing is sensory and ellicits memories of childhood summers spent with family,.......slow and magical days filled with treasured moments.The heart of the novel ,however, is conflict. Characters wrestle with morality and the rigid expectations of their religious upbringing.Often the face presented to the community does not match the inner face struggling with weaknesses not observed by the outside world. Sin is an ever present element in Moonflower.There are choices made that may not be the wisest.There are secrets lurking in the shadows of the bright summer light.But always there is family,the constant force that binds across space and time.The beauty of this novel is in how it looks at each of the characters lives,their inner struggles,the paths they follow,the choices they make and the ultimate way that family is redemptive.The moonflower represents the beauty that comes out of darkness,the love that breaks forth from a rigid stone pit,the fleetingness of youth,the forgiveness that heals and the fragile bond of family that ultimately means everything.
