"Verbena's husband is killed in a car accident and she is left to finish raising their five children. She then learns that her husband was not alone in the car... his girlfriend and their unborn child also died. Verbena is devestated, but she is a survivor. When the mailman, Lucky, a friend from high school, begins wooing her, Verbena takes a chance on him. What she doesn't know is that Lucky has health problems that he keeps from her, to spare her any more pain. On top of this, Verbena is dealing with her pregnant, willful daughter who leaves to marry her boyfriend, against mother's advice AND her son who, away at college, has met and fell in love with his father's girlfriend's sister. While it sounds like a sad story, Verbena is an upbeat tale of a woman who takes all that life gives her and becomes stronger for it."
Susan Parr, Resident Scholar
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Review Analysis of Verbena
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- upbeat
Time/era of story
- present (2000-2010)
Romance/Romance Problems
Yes
Kids growing up/acting up?
Yes
Kids:
- struggling to earn a living to survive
Internal struggle/realization?
Yes
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Coping with loss of loved one(s)
Yes
Loss of...
- husband/boyfriend/squeeze
Parents/lack of parents problem?
- Dada gone
Wild kid(s)?
- runaway!
Lover is
- physically ill/deformed
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- teacher
Age:
- 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 7 (a good amount)
United States
Yes
The US:
- Deep South
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
