It wasn’t easy to bring that idea to life on the page—no book is ever easy—but it was one of the most natural things in the world to me. I’ve been a lover of plants and teas for as long as I can remember, from pulling up carrots and picking raspberries as a kid to researching the medicinal properties of teas as a teenager, to falling in love with each plant’s spiritual meaning in my adulthood as I sowed my gardens from seed and watched them grow. I may not read my tea leaves every morning like the Haywoods (personally, I tend to have better insights from tarot), but I do turn to a meditative cup of tea and the images left in the dregs at least a few times a year.

My learnings from books like Reading Tea Leaves by a Highland Seer, The Herbal Drugstore by Linda B. White and Steven Foster, Mother Nature’s Herbal by Judith Griffin, Taylor’s Pocket Guides to Annuals and Herbs and Edible Flowers by Norman Taylor and Ann Reilly, and Plant Witchery by Juliet Diaz are not only all over these pages, they’re also a part of my own spiritual and life practice. You’ll see the results of some of that research (along with my own interpretations) in the glossary I’ve included in this reading group guide for both the Haywoods’ tea-leaf symbology and the plant auras.

While the shadow garden came first, this book wouldn’t have been complete without the memory magic. My own journey through healing has included confronting the idea of forgiving and forgetting—that, somehow, a survivor is expected to be the bigger person without apology or remorse on the other end (my therapist politely informed me that was bullshit). And thus, the Bonners’ magic was born. If you’re looking to learn more about bourbon, I’ve included a few bourbon-related terms in the glossary. I also can’t recommend the documentary Neat: The Story of Bourbon enough.

That being said, the memory magic also speaks to the hold alcoholism can have on a person. If you or someone you love is struggling with mental health or substance abuse, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s national helpline is free, confidential, and available all day, every day at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Lastly, this is a story of family—the family we’re born into, the family we choose, and the family we leave behind. Even a family as loving as the Haywoods has room for growth.

Discussion Questions

1. Addison’s tea-leaf reading appears several times throughout the book—an ear of corn, a sprig of rosemary, a ladybug, and a fern. The characters offer a number of interpretations as the story unfolds. What do you think the reading represents?