At 78 pages, Evergreen is hardly a novel. At that length, it's barely a novella. Instead, Evergreen is a lengthy inspirational essay about the path one artist follows to greater spiritual awareness.

Laura Stamps makes enthusiastic use of adjectives, which is not to say these modifiers are always poorly chosen. She often makes creative use of imagery and description. But, like an abstract painting, if she made less frequent use of modifiers, her writing would become a Mark Rothko, with bold clear colors that direct attention, rather than a tangled imitation Jackson Pollock.

At times, as when she writes about cats, her writing lapses into sentimentality. At the same time, her astute observations about feline behavior evince an artist's attention to detail. As with her over use of modifiers, the trick is in finding the balance.

As an inspirational essay, Evergreen offers a personal look at the differences spiritual awareness can make in someone's life. The essay may therefore prove useful to those who are also looking to enrich their spiritual lives.

Stamps has clearly done enough research to provide convincing details of her main character's profession. This is likely helped by the fact that Stamps herself is an artist, although not as successful as the main character, Mirabella.

A self-published author, Stamps includes in her catalog several collections of "spiritual poetry." No doubt, she has found a market for her writing within the inspirational niche. However, should she decide to expand her appeal, she would be wise to prune her use of modifiers and to expand Evergreen into a full-length model, taking a more expansive look at the changes and challenges brought by a spiritual journey.

Kittyfeather Press, 2003 (P.O. Box 212534, Columbia, SC 29221-2534)