The Shop on Blossom Street
Registered by yvonnep of Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Netherlands on 1/23/2007
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
3 journalers for this copy...
Copy, paste a find review by Rebecca Huston in which I found my own opinion :
Knitting and personal traumas in The Shop on Blossom Street
Pros
A warm fuzzy story.
Cons
It does get annoying and irritating in spots, much like bad wool.
The Bottom Line
A charming little novel that veers a bit too much on the fluffy, trite side, but if you're a knitter, you'll like it.
Full Review
Usually I steer away from what is known as 'Women's Fiction.' These usually contain what I think of as 'woman in danger or trouble' stories, with the emphasis on having the emotional and external problems solved by the end with a pretty ending, and a somewhat moralizing tone scattered over the top. Unlike romantic fiction, which tends to focus on one couple and their romance, this tends to be light on the characters, and heavy on the tear-jerking qualities. But this one by Debbie Macomber caught my eye, and on an impulse, I bought it.
Set in contemporary Seattle, this is the tale of four women, linked together by a knitting shop, and the class that they are involved with. The narrative is told in first person by the owner, Lydia Hoffman. She's coping with the mourning for her father, her main support in her own fight with cancer. Now that she's free of the tumors, she dreads the news that the cancer may come back, and in a defiant gesture towards fate, she starts her own knitting shop on Blossom Street, a run-down area that is currently going through renovation.
Within days of opening, she has her first three students to learn knitting, each one with her own problems and baggage that tends to get aired over the sessions. Jacqueline is the wife of the businessman that is renovating the street, and she's resenting the fact that her only son and child, Paul, has married a young woman who is clearly beneath him in class and money, and the added burden that Tammie Lee is pregnant is making her furious. But she's also smart enough to know that if she doesn't make amends, and soon, she will find herself rejected by her son. Carol is consumed with baby matters as well, but in her case it's the fact that she can not concieve that is eroding her self-image and creating misery. Alix is a young woman with a trouble past that is working to finish her community service hours and somehow get out of the hole that she's in.
How these four fit together, and interact between themselves and their families -- namely husbands, boyfriends, and roommate -- forms the main meat of the story. While there really isn't any sort of a plot, it does make for a nice slice-of-life story. Usually this sort of thing bores me silly, but this time I could empathize with two of the characters -- Lydia in her struggles to regain a sense of living after surviving cancer, and Carol coping with the issues of infertility. But Jacqueline is a constant meddler and snob, and Alix a bit too young and angry for me to really connect with. Still, what with the theme, and the other characters, I found it to be a good escape for a couple of hours.
The writing style is a touch on the simple side, without any real flourishes and relies mostly on interaction to push things along, and tends to be on the emotional overload -- the women are on the edge of tears, rages, self-pity or Bravely Struggling Along. At times this does get to be a bit too much, and rather annoying in sections.
The other good part is that Macomber is evidently familiar with the Seattle area and uses plenty of descriptions of the waterfront area in her story. But little else is given, and there are constant references to current culture which will probably date the book in a year or two.
For light reading, this isn't bad. Knitters will enjoy it as it has plenty of references to the topic, and there is a companion volume available that gives instructions to the various projects mentioned in the book. Little quotes and snippets to the art and philosophy are given throughout as headers to some of the chapters and instructions for a simple, begining project are given at the begining of the book. More information on the companion project book.
Another nice point is the community service project that the author has in the story, "The Linus Project" is based on an actual organization and is a nice way to explore your own creative and help someone.
A sequel has just been published to this one, called A Good Yarn, in hardcover and featuring Lydia and some of the other characters from this one."
The Shop on Blossom Street
Debbie Macomber
2004; Mira Books
ISBN 0-7783-2160-6
Knitting and personal traumas in The Shop on Blossom Street
Pros
A warm fuzzy story.
Cons
It does get annoying and irritating in spots, much like bad wool.
The Bottom Line
A charming little novel that veers a bit too much on the fluffy, trite side, but if you're a knitter, you'll like it.
Full Review
Usually I steer away from what is known as 'Women's Fiction.' These usually contain what I think of as 'woman in danger or trouble' stories, with the emphasis on having the emotional and external problems solved by the end with a pretty ending, and a somewhat moralizing tone scattered over the top. Unlike romantic fiction, which tends to focus on one couple and their romance, this tends to be light on the characters, and heavy on the tear-jerking qualities. But this one by Debbie Macomber caught my eye, and on an impulse, I bought it.
Set in contemporary Seattle, this is the tale of four women, linked together by a knitting shop, and the class that they are involved with. The narrative is told in first person by the owner, Lydia Hoffman. She's coping with the mourning for her father, her main support in her own fight with cancer. Now that she's free of the tumors, she dreads the news that the cancer may come back, and in a defiant gesture towards fate, she starts her own knitting shop on Blossom Street, a run-down area that is currently going through renovation.
Within days of opening, she has her first three students to learn knitting, each one with her own problems and baggage that tends to get aired over the sessions. Jacqueline is the wife of the businessman that is renovating the street, and she's resenting the fact that her only son and child, Paul, has married a young woman who is clearly beneath him in class and money, and the added burden that Tammie Lee is pregnant is making her furious. But she's also smart enough to know that if she doesn't make amends, and soon, she will find herself rejected by her son. Carol is consumed with baby matters as well, but in her case it's the fact that she can not concieve that is eroding her self-image and creating misery. Alix is a young woman with a trouble past that is working to finish her community service hours and somehow get out of the hole that she's in.
How these four fit together, and interact between themselves and their families -- namely husbands, boyfriends, and roommate -- forms the main meat of the story. While there really isn't any sort of a plot, it does make for a nice slice-of-life story. Usually this sort of thing bores me silly, but this time I could empathize with two of the characters -- Lydia in her struggles to regain a sense of living after surviving cancer, and Carol coping with the issues of infertility. But Jacqueline is a constant meddler and snob, and Alix a bit too young and angry for me to really connect with. Still, what with the theme, and the other characters, I found it to be a good escape for a couple of hours.
The writing style is a touch on the simple side, without any real flourishes and relies mostly on interaction to push things along, and tends to be on the emotional overload -- the women are on the edge of tears, rages, self-pity or Bravely Struggling Along. At times this does get to be a bit too much, and rather annoying in sections.
The other good part is that Macomber is evidently familiar with the Seattle area and uses plenty of descriptions of the waterfront area in her story. But little else is given, and there are constant references to current culture which will probably date the book in a year or two.
For light reading, this isn't bad. Knitters will enjoy it as it has plenty of references to the topic, and there is a companion volume available that gives instructions to the various projects mentioned in the book. Little quotes and snippets to the art and philosophy are given throughout as headers to some of the chapters and instructions for a simple, begining project are given at the begining of the book. More information on the companion project book.
Another nice point is the community service project that the author has in the story, "The Linus Project" is based on an actual organization and is a nice way to explore your own creative and help someone.
A sequel has just been published to this one, called A Good Yarn, in hardcover and featuring Lydia and some of the other characters from this one."
The Shop on Blossom Street
Debbie Macomber
2004; Mira Books
ISBN 0-7783-2160-6
"Stole" it form yvonnep's house yesterday, going to read it.
Ik heb de Nederlandse vertaling in mijn kast staan. Dat was een lekker tussendoortje, maar niet echt vreselijk goed ofzo. yvonnep's 'bottomline' zegt het helemaal. Ik zal dit book zo snel mogelijk loslaten.
I have the dutch translation on my bookshelve at home. Nice to read inbetween, but not very good. yvonnep's bottemline says it all. I will release the book as soon as posible.
I have the dutch translation on my bookshelve at home. Nice to read inbetween, but not very good. yvonnep's bottemline says it all. I will release the book as soon as posible.
Journal Entry 4 by tattoocats at Sent it to a knitting friend in Upper Hutt, Wellington Province New Zealand on Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Released 16 yrs ago (5/1/2007 UTC) at Sent it to a knitting friend in Upper Hutt, Wellington Province New Zealand
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
RELEASE NOTES:
The book is in a package on it's way to A friend
The book is in a package on it's way to A friend
I was sent this book as part of a Knitters Exchange - It arrived today so I haven't read it yet but will soon and then will release it somewhere local and update the journal.
