Wednesday 25 August 2010

The Shop on Blossom Street - Debbie Macomber

There's a little yarn shop on Blossom Street in Seattle. It's owned by Lydia Hoffman, and it represents her dream of a new life free from cancer. A life that offers a chance at love . . . 

Lydia teaches knitting to beginners, and the first class is "How to Make a Baby Blanket." Three women join. Jacqueline Donovan wants to knit something for her grandchild as a gesture of reconciliation with her daughter-in-law. Carol Girard feels that the baby blanket is a message of hope as she makes a final attempt to conceive. And Alix Townsend is knitting her blanket for a court-ordered community service project.

These four very different women, brought together by an age-old craft, make unexpected discoveries -- about themselves and each other. Discoveries that lead to friendship and more . . .

Although the story was fairly predictable and each of the characters conformed to a stereotype, I did enjoy this book. My mum's a fan of Debbie Macomber and has a dozen of her books on her bookcase, so I thought I'd better check out her work. This only took me a day and a half to plough through and, naturally, it didn't involve a lot of effort or intellect in order to get into the story. But sometimes you want an easy book to lose yourself in, something mindless that makes you smile. And that's exactly what this novel was. I'll probably read the next in the series when I'm next in need of some light escapism. 6/10

3 comments:

  1. I haven't read this one yet but you've summed up exactly what I like about Debbie Macomber's books, good easy reads that make me smile.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the comment, I'm glad that others agree with my assessment of Debbie Macomber.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have just started reading Debbie Macomber. I have been going through a stressful house move, and she is just the right novelist for me at the moment - easy to read, comforting, and entertaining as well. (My mother can't stand things like this!)

    I know her writing isn't Great Literature, but I can understand why she is such a popular writer. I do find myself thinking about her characters and wanting to know what happened to them, which I think is a mark of good, if not great, writing. I have also read her website, and she seems like a very nice person.

    Rosemary

    ReplyDelete