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photo: Tina Wood Photography |
Laura Resau is the author of 11 books for young people. The Alchemy of Flowers (Harper Muse, July 29, 2025), her debut novel for adults, is an modern-day take on The Secret Garden, sprinkled with magic. Her novels have won five Colorado Book Awards and spots on "best-of" booklists from Oprah, the American Library Association, and more. Resau, who is trilingual, has lived in Provence in France and Oaxaca in Mexico, and studied cultural anthropology and languages. She teaches graduate creative writing at Western Colorado University. You might find her writing in her cozy vintage trailer in Fort Collins, Colo., where she lives with her rock-hound husband, musician son, wild husky, and 100 houseplants.
Handsell readers your book in 25 words or less:
A broken woman. A mysterious job ad. A chance to heal in French castle gardens--but strange things are growing behind the ancient stone walls.
On your nightstand now:
I've just started In the Beautiful Dark by Melissa Payne. She's another Colorado author--we have such a supportive writing community here. I love the heartwarming aspects of found family, small-town settings, and wonder that permeate her storytelling.
Favorite book when you were a child:
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle made me think about existence in an expansive and mind-bending way as a child. I understood then that a story can alter your entire way of seeing yourself and your place in the universe.
Your top five authors:
At the moment, my favorites are Laura Pritchett, Liane Moriarty, Sarah Penner, Jaclyn Goldis, and Evie Woods. They all write captivating stories of women's journeys with depth and heart, no matter the genre.
Book you've faked reading:
In my high school English class, we were assigned to read The Iliad by Homer. I felt daunted. My mom, a book lover who read to me every night all the way through middle school, was determined to get me interested in it. She first read it alone--several times and very thoroughly--then she recapped it for me with such extreme enthusiasm that I couldn't help but get on board. I don't think I actually read it, just listened to her animated, play-by-play synopsis. She's always been my cheerleader in my own writing, giving me insightful feedback on early drafts. Interestingly, there are a bunch of Greek goddess references in my new novel, The Alchemy of Flowers, which is dedicated to my mom. Who knows, they might have secretly stuck with me over the decades since The Iliad. (Thanks, Mom.)
Book you're an evangelist for:
I've recently been spreading the word about The Wedding People by Alison Espach. Like my new novel, it takes a deep dive into infertility issues in a genre-blending way. To me, her book feels framed as a rom-com, but goes into deep, raw, complex, unexpected territory. I loved it!
Book you've bought for the cover:
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner. I love the jewel-toned palette, the mystical flowers, the blue butterfly, and the apothecary bottle evoking ancient potions and secrets. I buy little vintage glass bottles whenever I go to flea markets, and I couldn't resist gifting one to Sarah Penner when she came to town. (Apparently, I wasn't the only one--she has a lovely shelf dedicated to these!)
Book you hid from your parents:
As a child, I regularly hid books under my covers, reading by flashlight, deep into the night, way past my bedtime. I don't think I read anything taboo--my mom and my childhood librarian (whom I'm still friends with) helped me pick out my titles every week.
Book that changed your life:
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett enchanted me, utterly and completely. As a child, I was in love with everything about the hardcover edition I got for Christmas. The story mesmerized me--the mysterious garden, the high walls, the found family, the renewal and healing. When I think about it, it's no surprise that my new novel, The Alchemy of Flowers, is essentially a magical, modern, adult version of this story.
Favorite line from a book:
"One sees clearly only with the heart." I love this line from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. I adored this book, which I first read in French in high school. I read it over and over, dog-earing and underlining and starring. When I was writing Red Glass (my second young adult book), which opens with a little boy lost in the desert, I remembered my decades-old copy of The Little Prince sitting on my shelf. I pulled out my favorite lines and quoted them in the Part headings in Red Glass. The theme of human connection in both books feels like a thread reaching from my teen reader self to my adult author self.
Five books you'll never part with:
Interestingly, my desert island books are mostly poetry. I don't write poetry for publication, but I find it inspiring for my own storytelling. My ancient, well-worn favorites are: Selected Poems by e.e. cummings, Selected Poems by Pablo Neruda, New and Selected Poems by Mary Oliver, The Essential Rumi translated by Coleman Barks. And the final one is a picture book (which I consider poetry as well): Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. I've included quotes by most of these writers in my own books over the years, most recently: "And Max, the king of all wild things was lonely and wanted to be where someone loved him best of all."
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
I adore Liane Moriarty's What Alice Forgot, and I've reread it many times. It's a unique second-chance romance with warm humor and a fascinating structure--a woman gets amnesia and forgets the past decade of her life. Most of the story involves her trying to figure out what the heck went wrong and to salvage her relationships. It's a nuanced exploration of marriage and family, and I appreciate the way it explores infertility in a deeply resonant way. On my first read, I was utterly riveted and had no idea how the story would end.