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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
I picked this book because it was about a group of women who quilt together. Persian Pickle refers to a quilt pattern (also a term for Paisly). My mother was an avid quilter, as were the 2 generations before her and I expect the quilters go back further. My mom belonged to a quilting group and it was always a pleasure to get together with them during my trips back to Iowa. I enjoyed this book because I could i agine my maternal ancestors in sush a group. There is not much more powerful than a united group of women and that is what this book portrays. It may not have the most lyrical language, but the words were genuine and spoke to me. My mother passed away this year and there were moments during this reading I was missing her so very much. She left me several unfinished quilts I promised I would complete. Wish me luck.
Interesting, loved the relationships of these ladies. There were a lot of characters and I had a hard time keeping all of the minor characters straight.
A delightful summer read. I loved the characters and the story line. I'll keep it short until after we talk about this in book club.
Enjoyable read, most of the characters were WONDERFUL. Plot and setting were good but the characters really made the novel. I was able to guess the ending but that didn't ruin the reading. One random F-word that came out of nowhere, be prepared. Overall a good book, not a favorite.
This book was such a quick read! All in all, it was a good book and I liked it a lot.
Spoiler
At first I did not think I was going to like Rita or Queenie for that matter. Rita just seemed a bit stuck up and in truth she was just a bit all the way until the end. Queenie came off as being older than she actually was and it almost sounded like Grover was older than her as well. She did not come right out and say she was better than everyone, but I kind of got that impression. She also seemed a bit daffy at times and I just wanted to reach in the book and shake her. I know the mystery of who actually killed Ben is still up in the air, but I do believe it was Ella. She probably just snapped as soon as her cake was thrown away. One comment that is bothering me is at the end where they are all sitting around confessing to Ben's murder, Rita says she would have to be a "dummy like Charlie McCarthy". How did she know Charlie and why would she use him as an example?
slow-paced
Very entertaining and human. The Persian Pickle Club is a quilting/sewing club in Kansas during the great drought. The members are almost all farm wives, struggling through with not very much. There is a party line, but not everyone is on it and just a few have cars. Queenie Bean is one of those fortunate enough to have a car. Her husband Grover, fixes most of the machinery on the farm and she has a pump in her kitchen, so she has water in the house and doesn't have to go to the well to draw it. The "persian pickle" is a material, also called paisley. One of the members asked her husband to get her some once and instead of getting her a length, he bought the whole bolt. All of the members have quilts with a piece of the persian pickle material. Queenie's best friend, Ruby, and her husband have lost their farm and gone to California and Queenie misses her terribly. So, when Mrs. Ritter and Agnes walk in with Mrs Ritter's new daughter-in-law, Queenie has determined they will be best friends. But Rita is very unlike the other women, she's not particularly interested in sewing or quilting and confides in Queenie that she worked in a bar when she met Tom and she wants to be a writer (she was going to school and working at night). When she and Tom married, Rita quit school because they couldn't afford for both of them to go to college. Tom graduated with a degree in engineering, but could not find a job so they came home until he could. The Persian Pickle Club all support each other, help each other out and keep the club's secrets.
Then Ella's husband, who had disappeared, is found buried in a far corner of her land. The group rallies around Ella with Mrs. Judd and her husband taking her in. Rita has decided that she will find the killer for the Topeka newspaper and so get a job there. Her determination has them all worried. Ella's husband was so mean and evil nobody minds very much that he is dead, except Rita insists that justice needs to be done.
One night, on their way back from helping Nettie out when her husband is ill (the doctor suspects he has polio), Queenie and Rita are waylaid on the road, but are saved when Queenie's 'hired hand' Blue Massie ventures by and flattens the man. Blue starts to leave, but Queenie is shaking so hard she can't drive and asks that he drive them to the Ritter's and she will telephone Grover from there. This makes Queenie exceedingly nervous at being left alone and doubly grateful for the people they invited to stay in their shack and help out Grover. Blue's wife, Zepha, is an interesting character - a believer in signs and omens. It was she who sent Blue out to the road to check on Queenie because she felt something was wrong.
Rita is digging deeper and deeper into the business of the murder of Ella's husband and getting perilously close to a completely wrong conclusion
I believe I shall have to read some more titles by this author....
SPOILERS BELOW
When she makes an accusation at a club meeting, Queenie breaks down. Rita learns, sort of, what happened and the secret the club members keep.
Then Ella's husband, who had disappeared, is found buried in a far corner of her land. The group rallies around Ella with Mrs. Judd and her husband taking her in. Rita has decided that she will find the killer for the Topeka newspaper and so get a job there. Her determination has them all worried. Ella's husband was so mean and evil nobody minds very much that he is dead, except Rita insists that justice needs to be done.
One night, on their way back from helping Nettie out when her husband is ill (the doctor suspects he has polio), Queenie and Rita are waylaid on the road, but are saved when Queenie's 'hired hand' Blue Massie ventures by and flattens the man. Blue starts to leave, but Queenie is shaking so hard she can't drive and asks that he drive them to the Ritter's and she will telephone Grover from there. This makes Queenie exceedingly nervous at being left alone and doubly grateful for the people they invited to stay in their shack and help out Grover. Blue's wife, Zepha, is an interesting character - a believer in signs and omens. It was she who sent Blue out to the road to check on Queenie because she felt something was wrong.
Rita is digging deeper and deeper into the business of the murder of Ella's husband and getting perilously close to a completely wrong conclusion
I believe I shall have to read some more titles by this author....
SPOILERS BELOW
When she makes an accusation at a club meeting, Queenie breaks down. Rita learns, sort of, what happened and the secret the club members keep.
Way too many characters to keep straight or even care about. Plus, the "twist" was so easy to figure out that I had it solved in the first 1/4 of the book.
This was perfectly acceptable light reading. The characters were interesting and the storyline, though somewhat predictable, was also compelling. Since the book is just under 200 pages, it's a great choice for light reading on a train or plane. I won't be rushing out to read the author's other books, but I might read one if I saw it in a bookstore at an airport when I found myself without other reading material.
medium-paced