The Seeds of Sorrow by Lisa Brown is the sequel to The Porter’s Wife. Sarah Berry’s headstrong daughters are grown with families of their own. Margaret, the eldest, follows her dream and opens a restaurant in a male dominated industry. Mary, who is attracted to shy Percy, decides to take the initiative, so the relationship can blossom. Agnes discovers her loving husband Art, a war vet, suffers from shell shock. Art is sometimes moody. Agnes, a perfectionist, doesn’t adjust to problems very well, and takes out her frustrations doing unnecessary housework. She hides her problems, but is often quick to dish out advice to everyone. While her sisters yearn for opportunities to improve their lives, Agnes is scared of change and is content to live behind a door of denial. Her sisters constantly remind Agnes that changes are good and she must adapt. Unfortunately, their sister is an extremely proud woman who detests risks and wants everything to run smoothly on her schedule.

The Seeds of Sorrow was a wonderful drama filled with emotion. Lisa Brown’s writing was in depth, paying attention to details. I liked how the time period gradually changed, and I was able to share the joys and pains of this family who endured many hardships. Their strength and courage makes this story so interesting. The author wrote a heartwarming historical novel, documenting her family history which started with a remarkable woman named Sarah. I was fortunate to have read both books following the lives of the Berry women.

Following on from The Porter’s Wife, Lisa Brown’s The Seeds of Sorrow follows Sarah and her family after they immigrated to Canada to live with her brother. The story is set in the 1920s and 1930s when Prohibition is in full swing and the Great Depression has settled. Sarah and her family are among those affected by the lingering effects of World War I, a war that ripped families apart and caused devastation and loss the world over, including in Sarah’s family. Agnes, her daughter, is married and suffering her own difficulties, fighting her own fight to keep everything together, but she is as solid as her mother Sarah was. She would let nothing stand in the way of seeing her family kept together and happy. One single accident changes everything; it tears her and her world into pieces and threatens the very core of her life and her family. Hard lessons are learnt as Agnes struggles to hold on to all that makes her life complete.

As a follow-on to The Porter’s Wife, I think Lisa Brown has done a marvelous job with The Seeds of Sorrow. It is a very powerful story, professionally written in such a way as to draw the reader deep into it. You feel as though you are there and experiencing life vicariously through the characters. This is a wonderful story and a natural progression from the first book with no need to go back and remind yourself of what happened before. It’s all there in a neatly woven tale that left me in awe.