This is a book that is gentle, healing and one that gives you hope for all the good things in life.

The story focuses around Holly Bush, who is struggling after experiencing two significant traumas in her life, one recent and one less so. She has little belief in herself and in addition to the traumas, is also grieving the loss of her beloved grandparents. She arrives at the peaceful Pinewood Retreat for a three week stay to try and escape from it all and find a way to heal. Through her interactions with those who work and those are staying at the retreat, she learns to love herself again and find a way to look forwards.

This is a lovely, gentle book and whilst there are a number of tragic events, which are touched upon (grief, knife crime related to abuse, PTSD, loss of a child), they are not the focus of the story and are explored in a way that, of course, touch upon the negatives but the emphasis is on how one can heal after such experiences and find the inner strength to move forward and find joy in life.

The main thing I have got out of this book is ‘warmth’ and how the love, support and belief of others in us can help us heal and find that very love in our own hearts for ourselves. As Holly in the story says we must not “forget the garden of” our heart. “It’s about looking after ourselves: weeding out the bad things, concentrating on and nurturing the good things that happen.”

The book has a positive ending, again focusing on the fact that life deals us all various cards, good and bad, but it is how we cope with all we are given is the true test. And everything we go through makes us who we are today and to those who love us, all of that is ok. As Hunter says in the story: “Our scars are what makes us - the hidden ones, as well as the ones that are there for everyone to see.”

A truly lovely book, whilst clearly fiction, it could almost be a self healing guide and certainly has thoughts one can take away in that way from it.

This is not a genre I usually read, but I really enjoyed this book. It's engaging, the characters are relatable and believable, and the pace is pleasing. To be able to write about painful issues with a gentle humour is a special talent, but Garden of Her Heart achieves this brilliantly. If I had one criticism it would be that the outcomes are rather too obvious and set earlier than would be ideal, so I found myself waiting for them to happen, rather than wondering if they would. But this did not spoil my pleasure in reading it.

This book was lovely! I was really rooting for the main character & felt myself longing for the kind of break she had at the retreat!
This was such a nice read as everyone can relate to going through hard times & seeking a way to deal with it positively.

Garden of Her Heart is a heartwarming tale of healing and growth centred around Holly Bush who is on a journey of self-discovery at Pinewoods Retreat. The story beautifully explores themes of friendship, healing, and love, with relatable characters and moments of both laughter and tears.
A must-read and I can’t wait to read more from this talented author!

My first five star read of the year!

The story starts with Holly, who is really going through a tough time. Stumbling across an article in the paper about a retreat, not far from her hometown, she decides to try and find herself again.
The more we learn about Holly and her trials, the more we love her.

We get found family and friendship, laugh out loud moments and even a couple of recipes. I loved seeing the female friendships develop. It’s something that I definitely find missing in a lot of books, favouring romantic relationship building instead, although that’s not to say that there’s no butterflies here!

I loved Zoë’s writing style, I was engaged from the first chapter. I found this book to be heartwarming, like a warm hug at the end of a long day! I’ll definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for more from this author.

A heartwarming tale of healing and growth, and a journey of recovery as the protagonist Holly Bush navigates through two secrets and three transformative weeks at the Pinewoods Retreat. Holly finds solace in the neglected garden, comfort, friendship, and unexpected connections. Through journaling and tending to the garden, she not only heals her physical and emotional wounds but also uncovers the strength within herself.

I was already looking forward to this one, it sounded right up my street as I am a mental health advocate, trained holistic therapist and keen gardener. And when I discovered it's set in Formby, Liverpool, where we used to live when our son was a baby and my in-laws still live I was even more intrigued.

CW: This book contains themes of trauma and healing, including references to a brutal attack and the emotional aftermath. Reader discretion is advised for those who may be sensitive to such content.

My Bookish Thoughts 💬
I loved escaping into the closed circle of characters' stay at the Pinewoods Retreat, as Holly embraces her past, confronts her secrets, and blooms from her stay.

I found it a captivating story of resilience and renewal, a thoroughly enjoyable book filled with hope I feel will help many people suffering from the effects their past is having on their mental health and wellbeing. It's going into my 'wellbeing toolkit' 🧰 in case I need it in the future.

I feel characters were very well written there were some I wanted to be my BFF others I wanted to throttle 🤭

The author is a mindset coach and there are nuggets of tips and mantras sprinkled throughout, many I have found helpful myself in the past.

I even found myself googling whether the Pinewood Retreat existed as I would love to stay!

Thank you to @netgalley @uclan_publishing and @zoerichardsuk for this advanced copy.

A very predictable story but well executed. I predict a big summer hit.
Holly Bush is in a bad way when we first meet her. She has been off work for months after a brutal and traumatic incident. She has no friends and rarely goes out. I would say she's depressed. After being made redundant she goes to a nearby retreat for crystals, yoga, smoothies and so on. Rescuing the garden, making friends and finding love restore her to her old self. As her nan would say, the garden of her heart has been cleared of weeds and is full of growth and new shoots.
I felt there should have been some closure with Holly's parents. They live in France and have a tense Zoom each week. They have their own grief to deal with and Holly's recovery would have been more complete with a reconciliation, as she was still very angry with her mother.

A solid 3. It was a nice story but it was full of stereotypes and stereotypes that have been used to exertion in the past like the Japanese broken china and all the idioms they use. It was also extremely predictable and there was bits that seemed totally unnecessary like Hunters nickname storyline although I am glad he was not actually called Hunter. I am making this sound too negative not meaning to, it was a nice story and I would give it a solid 3, didn’t dislike it but would not read ir again, it became a bit repetitive by the end

I loved this book and gulped it down in a couple of sittings. The reading experience is a bit like the book's content - a wonderful and healing break from the stresses of life! It follows the recovery of the main character, Holly, who is attacked at work and then made redundant by an uncaring boss. She has one final benefit to use up - having worked for a travel agency, she gets a free trip of her choice. Reluctantly, as she's still unwell physically and mentally with the aftermath of the attack, she goes to a retreat centre for a holiday. There she encounters kindness and friendship, as well as new challenges. The setting is so vividly described, it makes you want to go to this beautiful place and seek out its healing atmosphere for yourself. The author is skilled at describing depression and anxiety and the gradual recovery Holly makes as she re-finds her confidence and begins to seek a new life. I liked that the emphasis is on friendship and self-love - although there is romance here too! The perfect summer read.

This book definitely shows how people around you can help you heal the scars of the past, I felt positive to see Holly's ability to find happiness and a meaning in something whilst dealing with her history of trauma and mental health, this actually gives me hope for my personal battle surrounding trauma.

Garden of Her Heart is a sweet, uplifting, feel-good novel about the restorative powers of community gardening. It follows the story of Holly, a young woman battling mental and physical scars and trauma, who finds solace at Pinewoods Retreat, a place for those in need of relief from the world. There, Holly meets San and Bex, Ruth, Lorraine and Hunter, and for the first time in her life she forms positive friendships that help her begin to heal. This was a quick, easy read, perfect for those who need an uplift in their life.

This was a feel good cosy light hearted story about a woman struggling in life and how she overcomes it.

This was really nice and sweet read. It starts off with holly losing her job, in the depths of depression following an attack she suffered previously, and the death of her sister and her grandparents.

She decides to attend a retreat to try and change her life and see will it help.

From there you see holly blossom and flourish and really grow as a character. There were some funny moments, and some emotional ones. There was also an element of romance.

At the start of each chapter there was a journal entry from holly which I found really showed her changing and growing throughout the book which I liked.

One thing I didn’t like was the constant mention of Covid and the pandemic. It was a little redundant and repetitive and didn’t add to the story.

If you’re a woman in your late 20s-mid 30s I think you’d like this as it contains a lot of pop culture references for that age group. I really enjoyed this element.

Overall a really solid cure feel good story. Definitely recommend.

Thanks to the publisher and net galley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Where do I start with how much I adore this book. First of all, the characters were incredibly realistic. You could empathise with them, relate to them, and feel their genuine emotions through the well written chapters. Holly especially, as a main character you could really understand how she feels, and as someone who struggles with social anxiety I could relate to her so much through this book. If anything this book is a love letter to those who struggle with anxiety and need a break from it all! I was pleasantly surprised by the wholesome romance. I absolutely adored Hunter and Holly's chemistry and could feel myself rooting for them since their first introduction! As someone who can relate to Bex's experience, her narration really touched me and opened my eyes to the relationship I have with my family. I would HIGHLY recommend this book to someone who loves, gardens, crystals, yoga, swoonworthy romance, and close sisterhood.

What an uplifting gem of a book! At the beginning of the novel is a poem about Pinewood retreat where the novel is set and it encapsulates everything about the place and novel. It's beautifully written with heart and provides warmth, emotional tears and a bookish empowering hug. I loved Holly and the other residents of the retreat. They'll be with me for a, long time and will return to their friendships on a reread.

I loved this book motored through it but was sad when it ended. The descriptions used made me feel as if I was there and I wanted to go! I went to bed early just to read this! Thank you.

Garden of Her Heart is a gorgeous novel full of hope, heart, and self-growth.

The novel follows Holly Bush, a woman left with great anxiety following several tragic events. Having been made redundant from her job, Holly pushes herself to take a holiday, and finds herself at Pinewoods Retreat along the Merseyside coast.

I highly recommend this novel. I really wish Pinewoods was a real place I could escape to!

A beautifully written book about Holly and how she rediscovers herself while staying at Pinewoods Retreat. I only wish I could spend three weeks there now too! Also, I'm going to be making the mushroom soup very soon. Highly recommend.