Wildflower Hill by Kimberley Freeman

SPANNING THREE GENERATIONS AND HALF THE WORLD, WILDFLOWER HILL IS A SWEEPING, ROMANTIC, AND COMPELLING STORY OF TWO WOMEN WHO SHARE A LEGACY OF SECRETS, HEARTBREAK, COURAGE, AND LOVE. Emma, a prima ballerina in London, is at a crossroads after an injured knee ruins her career. Forced to rest and take stock of her life, she finds that she’s mistaken fame and achievement for love and fulfillment. Returning home to Australia, she learns of her grandmother Beattie’s death and a strange inheritance: a sheep station in isolated rural Australia. Certain she has been saddled with an irritating burden, Emma prepares to leave for Wildflower Hill to sell the estate. Beattie also found herself at a crossroads as a young woman, but she was pregnant and unwed. She eventually found success—but only after following an unconventional path that was often dangerous and heartbreaking. Beattie knew the lessons she learned in life would be important to Emma one day, and she wanted to make sure Emma’s heart remained open to love, no matter what life brought. She knew the magic of the Australian wilderness would show Emma the way. Wildflower Hill is a compelling, atmospheric, and romantic novel about taking risks, starting again, and believing in yourself. It’s about finding out what you really want and discovering that the answer might be not at all what you’d expect.

MY THOUGHTS: I can't really say that I disliked this story,  because I read this from start to finish.  There were certain parts that went really slow, but other parts, I didn't want to end.   I really enjoyed the dual narratives of  Emma and Beattie, but to be honest, Bettie's story held my interest a little more than Emma's.  I loved Bettie's spunk and determination through out the novel.  I am not sure why, but I couldn't connect with Emma.  Maybe it was her self-absorbed demeanor, or just winey attitude.  Although, I must say she did soften a bit in the end.   This story was more character driven than plot driven, which is my favorite type of story.  The characters in Beattie's era were so real to me, some of them I love, some not so much, but they all seems so real.  

There were many passages in this book, that really made me stop and think.  Here are some of my favorites:

“There are two types of women in the world, Beattie, those who do things and those who have things done to them.”.

"We don’t really know what goes on in families. Best not to judge."

"Beattie came to understand that she’d come to Wildflower Hill to grieve. Not just for Charlie and Lucy, whom, frankly, she had grieved over a great deal already. She was grieving the loss of her youth, the closing down of possibilities as life became what it was rather than what it might have been."



I would definitely read other books by Kimberley Freeman.  I am giving this a 3/5.

Happy Reading