Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Perennials

By: Julie Cantrell
Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $15.56

Buy for $15.56

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Eva - known to all as Lovey - grew up safe and secure in Oxford, Mississippi, surrounded by a rich literary history and her mother's stunning flower gardens. But a shed fire, and the injuries that it caused, seemed to change everything...especially when her older sister, Bitsy, blamed Lovey for the irreparable damage.

Bitsy became the cheerleader. The homecoming queen. The perfect Southern belle who could do no wrong. All the while, Lovey served as the family scapegoat, always bearing the brunt when Bitsy threw blame her way.

At 18, suffocating in her sister's shadow, Lovey turned down a marriage proposal and fled to Arizona - a place as far from Mississippi as she could find.

In time, she became a successful advertising executive and a weekend yoga instructor, carving a satisfying life for herself, free from Bitsy's vicious lies. But now that she's turning 45, Lovey is feeling more alone than ever and questioning the choices that have led her here.

When she gets a call from her father insisting that she come home three weeks early for her parents' fiftieth anniversary, Lovey is at wits' end. She's about to close the biggest contract of her career, and there's a lot on the line. But despite the risks, her father's words, "family first", draw her right back to the red dirt roads of Mississippi.

Lovey is welcomed home by a secret project - a memory garden her father has planned as an anniversary surprise for her mother. As she helps create this sacred space, Lovey begins to rediscover her roots, learning to live perennially in spite of life's many trials and tragedies.

Years ago, Lovey chose to leave her family and the South far behind. But now that she's returned, she's realizing things at home were not always what they seemed.

Southern Living Magazine Pick for Most Anticipated Books for Fall. Redbook Magazine Pick of 20 Must-Read Books by Women.

©2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc. (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Perennials

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,912
  • 4 Stars
    933
  • 3 Stars
    325
  • 2 Stars
    91
  • 1 Stars
    57
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3,054
  • 4 Stars
    658
  • 3 Stars
    167
  • 2 Stars
    40
  • 1 Stars
    28
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,600
  • 4 Stars
    824
  • 3 Stars
    335
  • 2 Stars
    88
  • 1 Stars
    62

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Memory Garden = Memory Lane

Perennials was a walk down memory lane with the trip to Jackson and the Welty home visit. The detailed accounts of the Faulkner grounds, the gardens of the mother’s home, and the meaning of each of the flowers made listening a joy. The accent of the reader was also authenticity performed which is much appreciated. I highly recommend the story!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Lovely Story of Flowers and Family

As a gardener, I loved this story of flowers, family, friends, and the fears that we all have deep inside.
A book that reminded me that we need to look to the choices we all make it life and how they are not just for us but also how they effect others. Good book and good life lessons.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Cut a few branches off

I ended up really liking this story. Felt there were a few storylines left underdeveloped and a few that could have evolved. Overall good.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved this book!

Such a great story and I think everyone could learn a little something about yourself! If not, it will hold your attention throughout.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful

Beautifully written
Beautifully narrated
Beautiful story
Touching and tenderly told, life endured and enjoyed. I will listen to this one again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Relatable, thoughtful and inspiring !

A well written comparison of the growth of a garden with the cycle of life. This story goes beyond the obvious and examines the nature of wounded human souls and their ability to find natural healing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Tear jerker towards the end

Sibling hatefulness This book captured it very well. Goes through the whole gambit of emotions. The love, hate, loss, and forgiveness all wrapped up neatly in the end. Wish the happy ending could of come for me and my older sibling but he passed away 3 years ago, before we made up.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Purely Good

As has often happened in my lifetime, the 'perfect' book comes along at the 'perfect' time; 'Perennials' fits that category. Feels like I would be sullying the story to give too many details. Suffice to say, Julie Cantrell is a writer whose books I will seek to devour, again. The Christian slant may not appeal to some but, for me, I found the overall purity of the story uplifting and hopeful.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Amazing Narration

Brittany Presley mastered the voices of all the characters. With a variety of Mississippi accents she smoothly from one to the next.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful Story

I’m going to buy several copies of this book to give to family and friends anytime they are going through something.

All too relatable. Spooky. Beautiful. It’s essentially a bible of some sort. It spoke directly to me.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!