Author Charlene Costanzo has been named a finalist for the 2021 Eric Hoffer award for her book The Twelve Gifts from the Garden: Life Lessons for Peace and Well-Being. One of the largest international book awards for small and independent presses, the Eric Hoffer Award honors freethinking writers and books of exceptional merit.
Like the timeless classic, Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, The Twelve Gifts from the Garden is an assortment of life-guiding reflections for confusing times. Both books were inspired by nature on sister islands of Sanibel and Captiva.
Whereas Lindbergh wrote about the symbolism she saw in seashells on Captiva, Charlene writes about the meanings she sees in the botanicals on Sanibel, her home-away-from-home.
Charlene vividly links nature’s bounty with the “twelve gifts” that she explores in every one of her books — strength, beauty, courage, compassion, hope, joy, talent, imagination, reverence, wisdom, love, and faith — and she shows how mother earth offers us guidance, especially during life’s storms.
During a tropical storm. In the aftermath of chemotherapy. In the midst of marital discord. These are among the times Charlene found comfort, joy, hope, and healing on Sanibel Island and the tropical botanicals of her precious flower garden.
If you’re interested in making this collection of insightful life-guiding reflections the next addition to your bookshelf, The Twelve Gifts from the Garden is available to order from Amazon here.
