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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
What a wonderful, winding tale of going home and discovering yourself. Caroline Shelby returns home to Washington State with two children she’s adopted after her best friend suddenly dies under suspicious circumstances and after being abuses. Having lost her career in the fashion industry and struggling to figure out how to raise two kids, she forms a domestic abuse support group and begins picking up sewing projects, as well as reconnecting with old friends.
The characters completely made this one. I loved Caroline and her sisters, as well as all the characters in small town Oysterville. Will. Sierra. That slow burn, wonderful love story. If you love flashbacks, this is a great novel for you! Lots of rich, rich backstory and slow development of relationships that come together in the end. What a wonderful, richly drawn town with an interesting plot. Heartwarming and a great read.
Trigger Warnings:
Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.
The characters completely made this one. I loved Caroline and her sisters, as well as all the characters in small town Oysterville. Will. Sierra. That slow burn, wonderful love story. If you love flashbacks, this is a great novel for you! Lots of rich, rich backstory and slow development of relationships that come together in the end. What a wonderful, richly drawn town with an interesting plot. Heartwarming and a great read.
Trigger Warnings:
Spoiler
domestic abuse, sexual assaultPlease excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was a bit unhappy with this book from the start. The main character just whined and complained about not seeing a bad thing her friend was doing. A few times of worry make sense, dozens do not. Then, the title implies the book is about a sewing circle, but it's barely discussed. There's a lot of shifting time, from present day to when the main character was very young, and that would be fine but that title... Well, I felt cheated. Didn't even read every page, skimmed much of the last bits, was just tired of the story. Sad.
It was a well written book telling of the many ways that domestic violence can touch people's lives. Domestic violence not only can be physical but mental as well. I liked the sewing circle Caroline formed helping those who had experienced it and what she did to help them.
On a lighter note, I've been to Long Beach, Washington, numerous times and up and down the peninsula. I loved the description. The beach has always been my happy place.
On a lighter note, I've been to Long Beach, Washington, numerous times and up and down the peninsula. I loved the description. The beach has always been my happy place.
emotional
medium-paced
I liked this book
Its not great writing. Its not filled with brilliant thoughts and dialogue
It is a book for our times that probably will b rejected by various and sundry men.
It is a direct statement about women and our power of expression. It is balanced by the power of love which flows throughout this book.
the title is a bit disconcerting. I got it cause I sew. It is about sewing and clothing design. It is also about abuse as a spread out reality and how women deal with it or don't.
Its a very subtle way that Susan Wiggs expresses her concerns and empowers her characters.
It is one fine book
Judy
Its not great writing. Its not filled with brilliant thoughts and dialogue
It is a book for our times that probably will b rejected by various and sundry men.
It is a direct statement about women and our power of expression. It is balanced by the power of love which flows throughout this book.
the title is a bit disconcerting. I got it cause I sew. It is about sewing and clothing design. It is also about abuse as a spread out reality and how women deal with it or don't.
Its a very subtle way that Susan Wiggs expresses her concerns and empowers her characters.
It is one fine book
Judy
I read this as part of a sewing reading group and I probably wouldn't have picked it up otherwise. It says very clearly that it is about domestic violence and that is true. Really do pay attention and take that seriously as a content warning. I listened to this as an audiobook and I was shocked at the end to hear the copyright was so recent (2019). The way people are discussed and Haiti and the story all seemed much older. And why does every stupid navy person have to be a Seal on team 6? Do people know how ridiculous that is? How big the military is and how few seal officers there are? Meh
Argh. I really wanted to like this one. It had all the components I like; sewing, the beach, strong female characters, social issues. Unfortunately it had too many of those things chasing in too many directions.
After a series of fiasco's in New York, Caroline has come back to Oysterville, Washington to get back on her feet. With two children in tow (the result of her guardianship for a friend), her life is not what she thought it was going to be. But with them as inspiration, she's going to figure it out. Now just to deal with the pesky crush who's married to her best friend.
I'm not going to get into the characters really, as there are a bunch and it mostly centers on Carolina anyway. Who was kind of just an "insert" for me as she does a lot of things, and talks to a lot of people, but her own personality doesn't ever really come out for me. Although I do have to say her whole love triangle thing going on in this book is just kind of icky for me; even if feelings are feelings, just ugh.
The main thing for me was the tackling of all the issues in this book. Wiggs decides to tackle a lot; race, domestic violence (the primary), and even the care of black hair at some point. Which is fine, those are all important things to talk about. The problem comes in that it just comes across more as fact-sharing and not authentic conversations a character might have. It's told to us more than shown. There are also just a lot of different things, and I think eliminating a few of them (design theft, drugs, whatever), would have tied the book tighter and allowed for more development. As it is, there are so many questions that just seem kind of unanswered at the end (like poor Sierra).
I'm not going to shy away from Wiggs books in the future based on this one, but I just can say that this one wasn't a good fit for me.
Review by M. Reynard 2022
After a series of fiasco's in New York, Caroline has come back to Oysterville, Washington to get back on her feet. With two children in tow (the result of her guardianship for a friend), her life is not what she thought it was going to be. But with them as inspiration, she's going to figure it out. Now just to deal with the pesky crush who's married to her best friend.
I'm not going to get into the characters really, as there are a bunch and it mostly centers on Carolina anyway. Who was kind of just an "insert" for me as she does a lot of things, and talks to a lot of people, but her own personality doesn't ever really come out for me. Although I do have to say her whole love triangle thing going on in this book is just kind of icky for me; even if feelings are feelings, just ugh.
The main thing for me was the tackling of all the issues in this book. Wiggs decides to tackle a lot; race, domestic violence (the primary), and even the care of black hair at some point. Which is fine, those are all important things to talk about. The problem comes in that it just comes across more as fact-sharing and not authentic conversations a character might have. It's told to us more than shown. There are also just a lot of different things, and I think eliminating a few of them (design theft, drugs, whatever), would have tied the book tighter and allowed for more development. As it is, there are so many questions that just seem kind of unanswered at the end (like poor Sierra).
I'm not going to shy away from Wiggs books in the future based on this one, but I just can say that this one wasn't a good fit for me.
Review by M. Reynard 2022
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Perfectly fine beach read that includes a Very Heavy Topic: spousal abuse. The blending of that with the romcom / prodigal daughter returning home main plot may distract readers. It did sometimes appear that the abuse part was almost an afterthought that got added in to make the book more relevant, and how the Sewing Circle's first meeting's information about what the purpose actually is was a little unclear (was there coded language? was there word-of-mouth? something else?). More could also have been done with the copyright lawsuit, and with Addie and Flick's move and readjustments.
eARC provided by publisher.
eARC provided by publisher.