Personal Reflection
When I first heard of the 'blogging' assignment for our ISU in English, I was pretty freaked out, as I knew nothing about blogging. I thought for sure that this would be the top reason for not doing so well in English, but that was not that case at all. After doing the first journal postings, I realized that I was not only talking to just the teacher, but fellow students and also pretty much anyone who randomly searches through blogs. This gave me more of a reason to put as much information as possible into my blogs as someone else may actually take what I have to say into consideration instead of just having a writing assignment handed back to me, the teacher being the only one who read my opinion. Blogging just seems to me, like there is more of a point in doing the work assigned and I feel that I did a better job on the blogs than I probably would have done if the assignment was to be handed into the teacher on a piece of paper, only for him to read. Therefore academically, I feel that writing the blogs has made me expand my knowledge on many things. For example, researching for valuable information and trying to may key connections. This is something that I never paid much attention to before, but I realized with making the blogs that the key connections I made, really helped me to understand the book more.
I believed that intellectually I have grown, as I am now asking myself questions to try to expand my answers and make connections. In the end, I feel that this blogging assignment has helped me intellectually, as I think of topics on a broader scale and overall think more creatively. I also believe that this ISU has made me a stronger writer in certain aspects as I am now able to write more without having to stop and think about what to write about. As for my understanding of Canadian identity altering my reading, I think that I will now give Canadian authors a chance instead brushing them off because I know the myth that "Canadians don't write good books" is a false one. As a learner, I have come to understand that I work better and try harder if there is a purpose to the work that I am doing. In this case, I tried harder and was able to work better because I knew that my writing and my opinions were going to be seen and heard by more than just one person. I can actually get my opinion out to the whole world on this little blog. Overall, I enjoyed this ISU, as I think it did expand my learning and helped me with my writing skills, although I did have some trouble with trying to find my way around the site at first!

Explication of Loss of Loved Ones in The Lost Garden by Helen Humphreys

In the novel The Lost Garden by Helen Humphreys, three characters experience number 36, loss of loved ones, out of Polti's thirty-six dramatic situations. The character of Gwen Davis in the novel could be described as a humble and honest women, who desires love because she is so empty inside, she experiences loss of loved ones in many ways. "Gwen seeks comfort in her knowledge of flora and in the weight of her massive volume of Ellen Willmott's Genus Rosa, which she sets on top of her chest and imagines that it is the weight of a lover"(Sawka, Karma). In the novel it is clear to see that all Gwen wants is to be loved, as a child her mother would always ask her self, "how could I have produced such a creature"(Humphreys)? Her mother never showed any love towards her, and Gwen never really had the chance to love her mother either. They never had a normal loving mother-daughter relationship, which is why I believe that Gwen strives for love throughout the novel.

When Gwen finally experiences her first love, she doesn't know how to go about things. She falls in love with officer Raley and takes a leap of faith and tells him. For that one moment she felt alive, until she made the mistake of "calling it love"(Humphreys, 197). Raley reveals to her about his friend who died."Peter. He wasn't just my friend. He was my lover. We have been, had been, lovers since we were young. I've tried, while I've been here at Mosel, I've tried to get over it. But I can't. There is nothing else for me"(Humphreys,197). This information to Gwen was like taking a bullet to the heart, her first attempt at love is shut down so quick, there is also no closure between the two of them as Raley leaves the next day to be sent out to front lines. Gwen experiences the loss of a loved one.

Another instance where Gwen experiences the loss of a loved one is when her only true friend Jane passes away due to not eating. Jane decided to stop eating when her hope that she had for her husband missing in action is put to a stop. Jane had has much hope for her husband to be found alive, this hope that Jane had gave Gwen hope for love as well. Jane kept her husband alive in her head by loving "him fiercely and absolutely. Believe him alive"(Humphreys 133). Gwen liked this character trait in Jane and admired her for it, this may have been the reason that they became to close, they opened up easily to each other. Eventually Jane's hope was put to a rest when letter had been sent to her saying that "they had found the body of Andrew. He hadn't been over the ocean as expected. His plane crashed over land. His body had been found in the woods in France, hanging from a tree by his parachute. He had been dead for months. He had been dead the entire time having being reported missing"(Humphreys, 207). This upsets Jane greatly and she falls into a depression mode and stops eating to the point where she is "too weak to leave her room"(Humphreys, 207). Gwen now has to watch her friend that had been so strong in the past, die a slow and painful death. This is extremely hard for Gwen as she knows she will be losing another loved one. Jane was the only person that Gwen could ever connect with and she "will be remembered"(Humphreys, 211). Gwen experiences another loss of a loved one.

Overall, Gwen lived a hard life. It would be hard to imagine what it would feel like to be Gwen. A hopeless dreamer of love at heart, but never being able to experience what it felt to be loved back. A women who lives with the fact that the only hope of love she ever had has left or passed away. The only love she has left is the love for her gardens. Throughout this book we realize the hardships that Gwen has lived through. She truly experiences Polti's number 36, loss of loved ones in this book, as she never was loved, or felt loved by her mother, she loved only one man, who denied her and left, and had to witness her only friend Jane, whom she loved, die. Gwen believes " every story is a story about death. But perhaps, if we are lucky, our story about death is also a story about love. And this is what I remembered of love"(Humphreys, 212). If Gwen had the true experience of love in her life, then her perception of love would not be so harsh, as her story reassembled hurt more than it did love. It is sad to think that this is someones perception of love. Gwen truly suffered from loss of loved ones, unfortunately, the loved ones that she lost did not always love her back.

Apologia
Over my elementary and high school career, I have been assigned the task to read a book and then elaborate on whatever I chose, numerous times. I was usually allowed to pick any book in the library, and it was almost always by an American author. This year Mr. Hindley assigned the class to read a book by a Canadian author. A CANADIAN author!The first thing that came to my mind was "Who are Canadian authors?" I had never really heard of any famous Canadian authors, which is pretty bad, considering that I live in Canada. The worst part is, that when I went to the library to pick out a book by a Canadian author, the librarian could only think of 3 authors off the top of her head. I finally chose the book 'The Lost Garden' written by Helen Humphreys, and you are probably thinking "who is Helen Humphreys?" Well, that is exactly why I am writing about her, because I believe that she is a significant Canadian author, but is also an unknown author to many Canadians.

Helen Humphrey is a brilliant Canadian author who wrote the book 'The Lost Garden' which I had the pleasure of reading. Her first novel was written in 1997, when she was 36 years old, but her first book of poetry was written when she was just 24. Being the versatile writer that she is, she enjoys writing novels more than poetry at the moment because, she feels that "as a reader you enter a book and live inside there. And in poetry, there's no place for you"(Richards, Linda L.). She does admit that some day she would like to go back to poetry, but not quite yet. Helen Humphreys first novel, Leaving Earth "was a New York Times Notable Book in 1998 and won the Toronto Book Award the same year"(Richards, Linda L.). Her second novel Afterimage won the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize as well. Humphreys is a significant author because she takes a lot of time to research for her books before she writes them. For example, she knew nothing about flowers before writing 'The Lost Garden' which has many pages full of in depth information that the average person would not know about flowers and gardening. This dedicated writer also gets into the roles of her characters as each night while writing 'The Lost Garden,' she placed the real Genus Rosa (only 2 copies in the library system in Canada) on her stomach, just like the character of Gwen Davis did in the book. It is the little things like this that makes a book interesting, as you know the author really understands the characters that they are writing about. Another very significant and interesting thing that Humphreys does is incorporate real life stories from her family into this fictional book, which leads me to talk about the significance of the actual book 'The Lost Garden.' The way that Helen Humphreys ended up writing the book is also very significant. She "wrote the last two pages first and then started right at the beginning and wrote toward those final pages"(Tancock, Kat). Humphreys claimed "this book it just came out first, and was literally unchanged from first draft to finished draft"(Tancock, Kat).

The 'Lost Garden' is set in the time period of the Blitz or in other words WWII. This is an ironic thing for Humphrey to write about as both of her parents lived through it and she did not. The book, although fiction, has a fair bit of truth in it in comparison to Humphreys life. In the book, Gwen Davis' best friend Jane has a husband who is missing in action. This lost RAF [Royal Canadian Air Force] pilot has a story very similar to that of Humphreys grandfather who "disappeared in 1941 and was never found again"(Richards, Linda L.; Tancock, Kat). Humphreys' other grandfather "found a lost garden on the English Estate where he was living at the time. He worked with the garden: brought it back to its own fullness and, after his death, the estate was sold to a condo developer and the garden was lost again"(Richards, Linda L; Tancock, Kat). This is almost exactly like Gwen Davis' life in the novel. This content is unknown to most readers, even I was not aware until I was finished reading the book, but it made the book even more interesting and appealing to me. It is information like this, that I think makes a book significant among others.

Among the real facts of the story, there is much more to this book that makes it a great read. The love story intertwined in the novel grabs every ones heart's, who doesn't love a great love story? Humphrey reveals through her writing the pain that the character of Gwen Davis has felt in her life. Through expressive words that Humphrey uses, we understand how Gwen feels, and the hurt in her heart after Raley refuses her. The book has many aspects in life in which many different people can relate to, which makes the novel a great read for just about anybody. Another matter in the book that I feel is significant is the metaphor; "something that is lost, briefly found and lost again"(Richards, Linda L.) that everyone can relate to some way in their life. This is because "all of us have some sort of lost garden. There is always something that has been untended and has grown wild. You know, emotionally or something we used to be or something we used to do that we've let go"(Richards, Linda L.). This metaphor makes the book seem so much more than just a story when you apply it to different aspects of your own life, making this novel more than what it is made out to be. Many would agree that Humphreys work is "a story of longing, life and death- the stuff all great gardens are made of"(www.wwnorton.com).

Hopefully after reading this, you will understand why I believe that this novel and the author are a very significant in Canadian Literature. Helen Humphreys as of right now is not a well known author and is clearly not getting the credit needed for her intense writing in the 'Lost Garden.' She puts so much thought into her writing and I believe that she should be recognized for it, just like all great American authors. From now on, I will pay more attention to Canadian authors and next time when I have the chance to pick a book for a project, I might just give the Canadian authors the credit they deserve and pick up one of their books instead.

Works Cited

Barnsley Archives, Local Studies. WW2 People's War. 14 Oct. 2008
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/50/a2894150.shtml>

Humphreys, Helen. The Lost Garden. Canada:Perennial Canada, 2002.

The Lost Garden 2008. 14 Oct. 2008
<http://www.homemakers.com/home/bestbooks/the-lost-garden-b68.html>

The Lost Garden. 14 Oct. 2008
<http://www.wwnorton.com/catalog/fall03/032491.htm>


Richards, Linda L. January Magazine. 14 Oct. 2008
<http://januarymagazine.com/profiles/humphreys.html>


Sawka, Karma. Mostly Fiction BOOK REVIEWS 1 Jan. 2003. 14 Oct. 2008
<http://www.mostlyfiction.com/world/humphreys.htm>

Tancock, Kat. Canadian Living 31 Jan. 2008. 14 Oct. 2008
<http://www.canadianliving.com/life/community/interview_with_author_helen_humphreys.php>

Rough Work- Apologia

-Significance of Helen Humphreys Novel

1. occurs around the time of WWII

• shows what women did in the workforce
• fix up gardens around estate showing women doing their part in the war as potatoes were to be grown and sent off to the men

2. love stories intertwined into the book

• shows the difficulty of women who's husbands have gone off to war
• struggle to accept that a husband MIA(missing in action) may never be coming home

3. Gwen Davis' life story

• obsession with the Genus Rosa- pretending that it was a man's weight while it lay on top of her indicating that she is very lonely
• her secret love for officer Raley (first man that she has ever loved, but he does not feel the same way for her- breaks her heart, give up on love?)
• life is full of disappointment
• mother never showed loved towards her
• only friend that she has ever made dies slowly in her presence

4. book is autobiographical to Helen's Life

• Humphreys' parents lived through the Blitz(WWII)
• lost Royal Air Force Pilot in the book resembles Helen's grandfather who was never seen or found after 1941
• other grandfather found a lost garden at an estate he was living at- brought it back to fullness just like Gwen did in the story
• estate in the book is named after a house that Helen's father used to live in

5. significance of the story line

• "I thought the whole idea of something that was lost, briefly found and than lost again was a good metaphor. That's how the book started"
• "All of us have some sort of lost garden"

(ALSO ROUGH WORK)-----Significance of the novel by Humphreys is that it is something that many people may be able to relate to with the war going on in Iraq now, husbands going away and never coming back. The idea of something lost, found and lost again is also something that many can relate to. The book is made interesting as it is based on the lives of Helen's family members, so even though the book is fiction it does have truth to it. The love story intertwined into the book is something that a lot of people in the world are hoping to experience, we see Gwen Davis falling in love but we also see the down fall of this as she gets rejected. This helps us feel for the character of Gwen, it makes us feel sorry for her because she has never been loved before, Raley was her only hope but she was shut down by him, therefore readers will always wonder if she will find love again. Seeing friends in tough spots and being helpless towards them is something that many can relate to also, as Gwen tries desperately to help her friend Jane, but she is struggling with the death of her husband and the fact that he will never be coming back to her. All in all this book tugs on your feelings and many would be able to relate to aspects of the story which makes this novel very significant and great attention should be paid to this novel.

Why attention should be paid to Helen Humphreys

• very interested in writing books
• first book was written and published in 1997 when she was 36 years old
• she has to research quite a lot for writing the book "The Lost Garden" as she knew little to nothing about flowers
• Genus Rosa metioned in the book is a real encyclopedia about flowers, only 2 copies are available in Canadian libraries and Humphreys' was able to get a hold of one- Helen, like Gwen Davis in the book, would also lay under the Genus Rosa every night amidst the process of writing the book, it was a ritual that she had
• used to be a poetry writer but wanted to evolve into something different because she though that as a reader "you can enter a book and live inside there but in a poetry, there's no place for you"(Humphreys)
• some day she would like to go back to poetry
• she is a versatile writer being able to jump for poetry into writing and someday back into poetry
• capable of writing very interesting novels that are based on real life experiences
• as of right now, she is an author that is not known very well, as I searched her on google and found very little information about her
• she should be known as she is able to write fiction stories (The Lost Garden) that take you back to a real era or time period like WWII and incorperate real stories of her families lives into the book which makes the book much more interesting to know that some aspects of it actually occured in this life time

(ALSO VERY ROUGH WORK)----More attention should be paid to this Canadian author as she has very interesting things to say, she puts extensive research into her novels and even tries to get into her character's roles by doing the same ritual as Gwen Davis does in the book, by placing the actual copy of the Genus Rosa on her stomach each night while in the process of writing the book. She also incorporates her families life stories into the book which make it a very interesting read. Knowing that she is a versatile writer, being able to go back and forth from writing, to poetry, also make Helen Humphreys a very significant Canadian author. I believe that many more people should read the works of Helen and that many more people also need to be informed of her work. This is because when I searched her name online, she was almost non-existent, which is something you would never find with an American author.

After being assigned the task to make a blog on the internet I must admit that I was not so thrilled, but I realized that it is a great way to get your opinion out about certain things on your mind which the whole world can tap into, so welcome to my blog!

The purpose of this blog is to get information out about great Canadian authors, like Helen Humphreys. I thought that Helen was a great candidate for my blog because I realized that she is almost impossible to find on the internet. Sure there are some reviews about her great books, but no more than a couple of sentences written about her life. After digging deeper into the internet information I found out that her books were more than just fiction and that one of them was like an autobiography of her life. The book 'The Lost Garden' written by Helen is the book that she says she wrote to ressemble things in her life that had happened, which is the book that I enjoyed reading by her. I thought it was neat to know that the 'lost garden' was something that her grandfather had actually found when he was living on an estate in his earlier days and that he actually took the time to restore it, just like Gwen, the main character, did in the book. Another character, Jane, in the book had a husband who was missing in action, which Helen was reffering to as her other grandfather that had dissaperared in 1941 and was never to see again. I think that little things like these are what makes the book interesting, the fact that you can acutally imagine these things in the book happening to real people.

Hopefully my blog has inspired someone to pick up the book "The Lost Garden" by Helen Humphreys as she is a great Canadian author and should be recognized as one as well. If not, than I hope you enjoyed reading about her book, and welcome again to my blog!