The Garden Club and the Kumquat Campaign by Des Kennedy
This is one of those perfect stories that I just couldn’t quit reading and was very sad to finally put down. Des Kennedy is a resident of Denman Island in the Georgia Strait of British Columbia, Canada, which I have had the recent pleasure of enjoying. It’s a beautiful little place full of eccentric people, and Des has used his experiences here to create characters and a story that are realistic, heart-warming, hilarious and intelligent.
The main character, Joseph Jones (known as Brother Joseph to his friends for his years as a monk with the Brothers of Blessed Columkille the Lesser) is a middle of the road fence sitter who doesn’t get involved in heated island politics (fairly petty, like the politics of most small communities, including the rural Arkansas towns I grew up in), perfectly content to write and edit freelance and tend to his beautiful garden. He describes himself perfectly: “…here I stand. A coward born and bred. A compromiser. Conflict-avoider. Chronic placater.” He undergoes a fantastic transformation revolving around saving a local forest area from logging. He’s a wonderfully lovable character, and very down-to-earth, so that, brilliantly, Kennedy’s novel doesn’t come across as preaching about environmental issues, but as a truly fun novel. You just want to hop in there with them even with all the crazy things going on.
The island Kennedy describes is Upshot Island, an imaginary place in British Columbia. But those who have spent any time on the Gulf Islands can see a definite resemblance. I recommend this book if you want a good story, a good laugh, something to think about, or if you enjoy the gulf islands of British Columbia.
Filed under: Nothing Like a Good Book