The Memory Gardener: Finding Inspiration in My Own Backyard by Meg Donohue

Meg Donohue

Readers often ask what inspires the novels I write, wondering where and when and how the first seed for each story was planted. I’m delighted to report that with regards to my latest novel, The Memory Gardener, I can answer for the first time that the seed of inspiration was, quite literally, a seed! 

I’ve lived for eighteen years in the heart of San Francisco in a house with a tiny backyard, but it was only about six or seven years ago that I began to really take an interest in gardening. My three daughters were all old enough then to be in elementary school, leaving me time both to write and, for the first time since becoming a mother, to nurture a new hobby. Soon, I was filling my narrow garden beds to the brim with cosmos, sweet alyssum, nemesia, dahlias, snapdragons, salvia, and hydrangeas. 

I discovered that there is meditative quality to the act of caring for a garden, and a certain magic to be found in the way the mind wanders as one works, stirred by the scents of flowers. I’ve always been fascinated by the connection between scent and memory, and one day, as the aromas of the flowers I planted swirled around me, an idea for a story took hold. What if, I thought, the scent of a flower was literally transportive, allowing you to truly relive a forgotten moment from your past? From this first seed of an idea, I created the character of Lucy Barnes, a gardener with a gift for growing flowers whose scents awaken lost memories.

The novel wasn’t just inspired by the scents of my flowers—it was also inspired by the feelings of contentment and peace I feel while working in my garden. During the Covid lockdown, our little yard offered me an incredible amount of comfort; no matter what was happening in the world, my flowers continued blooming, offering beauty and stability during a difficult time. Even after years of practice, I remain today a beginner gardener—there is a lot of trial and error to my planting “method,” if you can even call it that. But gardens, it turns out, are forgiving, and I’ve enjoyed learning as I go. Most of all, I’ve come to understand just how much comfort and pleasure there is to be found in planting and nurturing a garden. While writing The Memory Gardener, I knew that I wanted to infuse the story with that same sense of coziness and comfort—because like a garden, a heartwarming book offers a much-needed respite from an uncertain world.

The Memory Gardener by Meg Donohue

Sure to charm fans of Chocolat, Garden Spells, and The Scent Keeper, USA Today bestselling author Meg Donohue’s The Memory Gardener is a cozy and moving tale about the power of memory and the nourishing magic of gardens.

Lucy Barnes has an uncanny ability to know exactly which scent among the flowers she grows will return a person to a long-forgotten memory, a key from their past that has the potential to change their future. When she takes a position as the gardener at a somber, colorless assisted-living home, the evocatively scented flowers that she grows awaken not only the home’s gardens, but the entire community, stirring new pleasures and unearthing long-buried secrets within all who venture through the gardens’ gates. 

But when a secret comes to light that threatens to shatter the newly close-knit community, the future suddenly looks uncertain. Have the memories that Lucy has unearthed awakened something wonderful … or are some memories better left buried?

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Meg Donohue is the USA Today bestselling author of THE MEMORY GARDENER (November 2025), YOU, ME, AND THE SEA, EVERY WILD HEART, DOG CRAZY, ALL THE SUMMER GIRLS, and HOW TO EAT A CUPCAKE. Born and raised in Philadelphia, she lives in San Francisco with her husband, three daughters, and dog, and is working on her next novel.

Follow Meg on Instagram at @megdonohuesf

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing