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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
This was good for what it was, which is not my kind if book. If I were to just base this off what I like, this world have been a 2 star read.
I got sucked into this book because it had sewing and was based in WA state. Those two things had major parts in the book, but overall this was just contemporary women's fiction, and that's really not my thing.
Some trigger warnings of domestic abuse, mild reference to drug use.
I got sucked into this book because it had sewing and was based in WA state. Those two things had major parts in the book, but overall this was just contemporary women's fiction, and that's really not my thing.
Some trigger warnings of domestic abuse, mild reference to drug use.
Book club book 3 1/2 stars
I liked this book, biggest problem with it...seemed to wrap everything up a little to well. At times this story was messy... I just felt like everything was taken care of. With that said, I do love a good love story. I fell in love with Will so I was happy when he got the girl.
Favorite quotes from the book:
You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart always will be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place. - Miriam Adney page 52 part 2
That’s what I want to give them, Angelique. A childhood where safety is not a goal, but a given. Pg 170 chapter 13
I liked this book, biggest problem with it...seemed to wrap everything up a little to well. At times this story was messy... I just felt like everything was taken care of. With that said, I do love a good love story. I fell in love with Will so I was happy when he got the girl.
Favorite quotes from the book:
You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart always will be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place. - Miriam Adney page 52 part 2
That’s what I want to give them, Angelique. A childhood where safety is not a goal, but a given. Pg 170 chapter 13
Feel-good book about a designer in NYC who has to run away back to her hometown on the coast of WA state. There's home baking & a man who knows how to build stuff & beloved pet dogs. It's a feel-good book even though domestic violence is one of the themes. Not sure how I feel about that - maybe raises awareness? Or maybe just makes it sound pretty easy to start a support group. Is it that easy to start a support group?
I might be cynical because I have my doubts about the WA coast authenticity - I never met anyone from Washington (or Alaska) who calls rain boots "gumboots," and people who don't like dark, stormy winters are really from California. I happen to love gloomy, damp weather, thank you.
I might be cynical because I have my doubts about the WA coast authenticity - I never met anyone from Washington (or Alaska) who calls rain boots "gumboots," and people who don't like dark, stormy winters are really from California. I happen to love gloomy, damp weather, thank you.
Caroline, a young and gifted fashion designer, finds herself without a career and with a dear friend's children. She moves back home and rebuilds her life, inspired to help other women affected by domestic abuse. Along the way, she rediscovers her love for home and an old friendship waiting to be rekindled. I couldn't read it fast enough.
3.5 stars. Thank goodness Susan Wiggs is still writing Women's Fiction (several of my favorite authors have apparently abandoned the genre for edgy thrillers), although The Oysterville Sewing Circle is weakened by too much plot and a subtle anti-feminist undertone.
There's an awful lot to cover in less than 400 pages, including Caroline's attempt to reclaim her fashion career after a top designer steals her ideas, her sudden thrust into parenting two orphaned, traumatized children that causes her to return home after years of self-exile, and her attempts to start a domestic abuse survivor support group. Plus there's a romance shoehorned in there as well. The result is that most of the plots don't get the attention they deserve. I especially would have appreciated reading more about little Flick and Addie's adjustment to their new lives (they seemed remarkably resilient for two children who have moved to a strange new place with a woman they barely know after their mother dies suddenly), and about the Oysterville Sewing Circle participants.
Instead, the novel focuses more on the love story between Caroline and her childhood friend Will, who is married to her best friend Sierra when Caroline arrives back home. Flashback scenes show how Will and Caroline met and bonded when they were barely teenagers, although their friendship transformed several years later when Sierra moved to town, and she and Will started dating. Within a few chapters of the current story, Will and Sierra's marriage is in trouble, then Sierra is gone and Will and Caroline are together. Despite the many years they knew each other it seems to happen within just a few pages. But the reader is supposed to be okay with thatbecause Sierra didn't want kids and had an abortion, so she doesn't deserve to be happy. Oh, Wiggs says all the right things about a woman's right to choose, but when it comes down to it, Caroline who loves children gets the HEA, and Sierra who doesn't is miserable and bitter (but professionally successful, so there is that).
The domestic violence issues are presented honestly and for those who might not know anything about the dynamics it's an important topic to include. This isn't my favorite Susan Wiggs novel (that's probably [b:The Apple Orchard|16074553|The Apple Orchard (Bella Vista Chronicles, #1)|Susan Wiggs|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388276273s/16074553.jpg|18171290]), but it is still a quick rewarding (and somewhat frustrating) read.
ARC received from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
There's an awful lot to cover in less than 400 pages, including Caroline's attempt to reclaim her fashion career after a top designer steals her ideas, her sudden thrust into parenting two orphaned, traumatized children that causes her to return home after years of self-exile, and her attempts to start a domestic abuse survivor support group. Plus there's a romance shoehorned in there as well. The result is that most of the plots don't get the attention they deserve. I especially would have appreciated reading more about little Flick and Addie's adjustment to their new lives (they seemed remarkably resilient for two children who have moved to a strange new place with a woman they barely know after their mother dies suddenly), and about the Oysterville Sewing Circle participants.
Instead, the novel focuses more on the love story between Caroline and her childhood friend Will, who is married to her best friend Sierra when Caroline arrives back home. Flashback scenes show how Will and Caroline met and bonded when they were barely teenagers, although their friendship transformed several years later when Sierra moved to town, and she and Will started dating. Within a few chapters of the current story, Will and Sierra's marriage is in trouble, then Sierra is gone and Will and Caroline are together. Despite the many years they knew each other it seems to happen within just a few pages. But the reader is supposed to be okay with that
The domestic violence issues are presented honestly and for those who might not know anything about the dynamics it's an important topic to include. This isn't my favorite Susan Wiggs novel (that's probably [b:The Apple Orchard|16074553|The Apple Orchard (Bella Vista Chronicles, #1)|Susan Wiggs|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388276273s/16074553.jpg|18171290]), but it is still a quick rewarding (and somewhat frustrating) read.
ARC received from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
This book centers around Caroline Shelby, who desires to be a fashion designer in New York. When she gets her "chance", something happens and she is blacklisted. When one of her best friends (whom Caroline suspected of being a victim of domestic violence) dies, Caroline takes her friend's two kids and returns home to Oysterville Washington. She moves back in with her parents and tries to start her life over while being a "mom" to 2 kids. She runs into Will, whom she fell in love with when they were kids and is now married to her best friend.
When she realizes that domestic violence is more prevalent than she thought in Oysterville, she creates the Oysterville Sewing Circle - a place where woman can go to talk and just get support. She starts designing and making clothes for the kids and that business starts to take off.
The story is told in alternating time-frames. Current time and when Caroline, Will and Sierra were kids. This is a well-written book and the stories (and characters) are believable. When a group of women come together to right a wrong, it shows there is strength in numbers.
When she realizes that domestic violence is more prevalent than she thought in Oysterville, she creates the Oysterville Sewing Circle - a place where woman can go to talk and just get support. She starts designing and making clothes for the kids and that business starts to take off.
The story is told in alternating time-frames. Current time and when Caroline, Will and Sierra were kids. This is a well-written book and the stories (and characters) are believable. When a group of women come together to right a wrong, it shows there is strength in numbers.
Actually raiting: 3.75 stars.
Honestly really good! Though i wish it was more focus on Caroline and the kids, and the ending felt sort of rushed, because this big thing happend at the end and it kind of threw me off.
Honestly really good! Though i wish it was more focus on Caroline and the kids, and the ending felt sort of rushed, because this big thing happend at the end and it kind of threw me off.