In the enchanting world of the Costa Rican mountains, Sandra Shaw Homer begins her memoir, tracing the seasons and carefully observing the natural riches around her. But Evelio, who helped build their house, interrupts with an idea to plant an organic garden on their property.

Over a challenging year full of unpredictable weather, wild animals, and toxic chemicals, their friendship grows as Evelio teaches her about the rural sustainability of Costa Rica in decades past. He pulls her into the daily ups and downs of his project. Evelio creates an often funny, always frustrating, and ultimately rewarding counterpoint to her work, such that the two intertwine on the page, and lead her to confront a painful past and open up to profound personal change.

Sandra Shaw Homer has lived in Costa Rica for 29 years, where she has taught languages and worked as an interpreter/translator and environmental activist. She writes a column in the local press, and her creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry have appeared in a variety of print and online literary and travel journals, as well as on her blog. Sandra Shaw Homer's travel memoir, Letters from the Pacific: 49 Days on a Cargo Ship, received excellent Kirkus and Publishers Weekly reviews.

Join Sandra Shaw Homer and me on Tuesday, July 28, 10 - 11 A.M. CT US. We will be having a conversation about her remarkable life's journey, and the recently released memoir, Evelio's Garden.