Book - The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber

I was blog-surfing one day a few months ago and ran across a lady who knits, who had said she enjoyed this book. I wrote it down on my list of "might try to check out at the library" and picked it up a couple of weeks ago. I was a little worried that the book would be more about knitting than other things, but I couldn't have been more wrong. This is a book about 4 women who get to together in a beginning knitting class, but they rarely talk about knitting. It's a book about their individual lives, and their growing friendships.

Each chapter is about one of the 4 women in the book, one who owns a new knitting shop on Blossom Street in Seattle, and the 3 ladies who join her first ever beginning knitting class. The first character is the owner of the shop herself, Lydia, who is a two-time survivor of brain cancer. Her storyline revolves around her strained relationship with her family, her opening the shop, and her trying to affirm that she has a life to live, and not just waiting for the cancer to strike her again.

Another character is a fancy socialite (Jacqueline) who wants to knit a baby blanket for her first grandchild. Her brand-new daughter-in-law is not the "kind of woman" she wanted her son to marry, and her storyline deals with her marriage, her relationship with her only son and his new wife, and subsequently, their first child.

Another character, Alix, is a street kid who joins the group to knit a blanket for a community service project, to serve out her community service rather than jail time for the bogus drug charge she received. She subsequently meets a preacher and works on changing her life and bettering herself.

The last character was one that really struck a chord with me - Carol, who is undergoing in-vitro treatments in her quest to have a child at any cost. Her storyline deals with her struggles, and her marriage, and what the cost of having to try so hard to have a baby can do to yourself and your spouse.

To me, this was a wonderful book about 4 women who were the unlikeliest of friends, but who all became friends. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and plan to read more by this author. I think there is a follow-up or sequel to this book, and I will check it out soon. I can't wait to read more about these characters!

Added: September 8th 2005
Reviewer: Stace
Score:
Hits: 935
Language: catala