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Triger warnings: teenage self-harm, some crude language, rape trauma

“Hedge�� by Jane Delury is a slow simmering story of a woman married to a man who gaslights her into believing her career is not worthy.

Maud, a garden historian in the Bay area of California, a mother of two young girls, has not been able to follow her career and her passion because her husband does not support her emotionally. When the story opens, she and her husband, Peter, are legally separated. To Maud, the marriage is over. Her husband cheated on her at least twice that she knows of. He travels and is gone a lot. She needs this separation to figure out how to cultivate her career and be a mother to her two young teen daughters. Maud has taken a job to work in a formal Victorian garden in the Hudson Valley (New York). She wants her girls to live with her for 2 months while she’s working there.

Maud reclaims her passion for historical gardening; she luxuriates in the physical work in the sun, the creativity, the beauty that she creates. While working on this project, she meets an archeologist, Gabriel, who is temporarily housed next to Maud. Of course, she falls for him, as he respects her work and her.

When Maud’s two girls come for a 2-month visit, the romantic interest goes on the backburner. Yet, Maud has intentions of leaving her marriage, so she decides to introduce the girls to her “friend�� for a nightly dinner. It goes well, so she invites Gabriel for a few dinners a week. Problem: they never told the girls that they were separated.

Delury uses Maud to examine the complexities that women must consider when separated or divorced, especially regarding introducing your children to a person of the opposite sex. Complicating matters is Maud’s oldest is a budding teen. I’m not divorced, but I have friends who are, so I had girlfriend knowledge of the complications of dating, especially when our daughters are in hormonal turmoil and budding sexually. Delury realistically portrays the dilemmas and delicate situations involving adult romance with children.

The blurb adequately states “Hedge is an unforgettable portrait of a woman’s longing to be a good mother while still answering the call of her soul and mind.�� Delury provides Maud’s inner thoughts “She wanted to resurrect the original garden, not some inauthentic, shrunken version.�� (Voicing what Maud wants for herself) Maud made different choices than I would have, and I am fascinated at how Delury followed through with the decisions, ugliness and all. This book made me question my opinions, thoughts and ideals.

This is a “moody�� and quiet read. The writing is beautiful. If the above TW aren’t your triggers, I recommend this as a wonderful domestic read.