The Roots Take Hold: A Novel of Slow Magic and Second Chances

By Mattieu Cross

Maren Ashvale has spent twenty years being indispensable. Now she's burned out, forty-two, and the reluctant owner of a Victorian greenhouse she inherited from an aunt she barely knew - in a village she's never once visited.

She came here to stop.

Instead, she starts paying attention. To the ancient fig vine that simply keeps growing. To the rose that shouldn't still be blooming, but is. To the quiet man next door who asks nothing of her and, somehow, because of that, changes everything.

Over the course of a single year, the greenhouse comes back to life.

So does she.

A tender, slow-magic novel about second chances, quiet courage, and growth that can't be rushed - for anyone who has ever needed to stop before they could begin.

(Previously published as The Proving.)

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GS5V4XP8
• ISBN13: 9798251567915
• Release Date: March 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 394 Pages
• Weight: 0.77 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.0" x 8.0"