The Invitation to the Garden
A Mystical Journey in Five Paradoxes
by Joanna Tulloch
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Pub Date 28 Sep 2018 | Archive Date 18 May 2018
Troubador Publishing Limited | Matador
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Description
Written over the course of 25 years, The Invitation to the Garden is a spiritual journey described in verse and prose. The books tells of Joanna’s struggle to make sense of her faith while suffering from recurring anorexia and severe depression. This heartfelt story of self-development begins in the ‘jungle of life’ and leads to the garden of the title as readers follow Joanna’s passage from fear and darkness into light and love.
The book is set out in a series of paradoxes, each of which offers readers an insight into Joanna’s learning experiences. As the story continues, readers witness how Joanna begins to understand her suffering, daring to trust and finally coming to terms with her illness. The book is narrated mainly in verse, with prose flashbacks to childhood interspersed throughout. Joanna’s own watercolours on the covers illustrate each section of the story.
Inspired by the poetry of George Herbert, John Bunyan and T. S. Eliot, The Invitation to the Garden teaches valuable lessons that will apply to a wide variety of readers. The book will be especially interesting to readers who have also suffered with eating disorders, depression, or other mental health problems.
A Note From the Publisher
Available Editions
| EDITION | Ebook |
| ISBN | 9781789011074 |
| PRICE | US$4.99 (USD) |
Featured Reviews
Kendra S, Reviewer
This poetry collection is more a description then a prescription of a mystic journey. For those who are exhausted by the self-help books of the Christian publishing industry, the meditations, vision, and love letters from God will soothe the spirit.
The author, Joanna Tulloch, is a Methodist preacher who receives a vision of Jesus in the jungle, inviting her to a place of peace and growth in the Garden. This sort of spirit-filled experience finds little voice in the Methodist tradition, so may be confusing. Tulloch turns to a form of art that uses words to create the images we can’t quite express, to share the truths of our faith that are tired from being hammered into a sermon.
While I quite liked this accessible and quick poetic journey, there are some forms I wish were different. The first section focuses too much on rhyming, which is a personal pet peeve. I do appreciate that in the desperate middle of the book, the form breaks down as her mind does. The shards of diction express more than many of the longer poems.
There are some lovely lines, including:
“Your depression, all your mind’s pain are for me to gaze on.”
“Straining to make their songs appear good news--when worship is hard work for priest and flock and eyes keep wandering off to check the clock.”
“Though I lose hold of You, You never withdraw your hand.”
“There are many ways out, many doors to oblivion; it is easy to take these. Harder to remain a seeker”
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