In this series, the author obviously remains true to her pattern of three women and their knitting teacher while going through some rough times in their lives. That is, in one novel, wonderful to read about, no doubt about that. But in a second book the same all over again only with different characters?
A Good Yarn*
by Debbie Macomber
Blossom Street Series #2
Publisher Mira on April 29, 2014
Genre Novel
Pages 379
Format Paperback
Source Library
Blossom Street Series #2
Publisher Mira on April 29, 2014
Genre Novel
Pages 379
Format Paperback
Source Library
✶✶✶½
Lydia owns a knitting shop on Seattle´s Blossom Street. In the year since it opened, A Good Yarn has thrived – and so has Lydia. A lot of that is due to Brad Goetz. But when Brad´s ex-wife reappears, Lydia is suddenly afraid to trust her newfound happiness. Three women join Lydia´s newest class. Elise Beaumont retired and bitterly divorced, learns that her onetime husband is reentering her life. Bethanne Hamlin is facing the fallout from a much more recent divorce. And Courtney Pulanski is a depressed and overweight teenager, whose grandmother´s idea of helping her is to drag her to senior´s swim sessions – and to the knitting class at A Good Yarn.
Story
Lydia is stunned when she hears from her fiancé that he breaks up with her only because his ex is coming back and wants a second chance. She is shocked, feels disappointed, and has no other way then to tell him what his ex´ really wants. And with her sister Margaret, things aren´t easy too. Something is weighing down on her sister, but unlike other siblings, they can´t talk to each other about it. A fact that makes Lydia very sad.
Style
I couldn´t help but ask myself from time to time while reading this, why the hell is Margaret treating her sister the way she does? And why is there always the need of a woman who goes through the same emotions and experiences all over again throughout her entire life? That doesn´t make any sense to me. Sure, the author writes with a wonderful sensitivity about very emotional things and places every word very carefully. And getting divorced or losing a parent is never easy. To deal with such a dramatic change isn´t a piece of cake. And it changes a life forever. And yes, Debbie Macomber has a beautiful way to let her figures go through some rough times without becoming too kitschy. But in A Good Yarn, it was sometimes just too much. She repeated some things over and over again and showed some women who seemed to be unable to free themselves from the mistakes they´ve once made.
Characters
Brad does everything to make his son happy and give him the family he deserves. But when Lydia is telling him the truth about his ex-wife and why his ex is doing what she intends to do, he isn´t willing to trust Lydia on that. Or to believe her. Yes, Lydia reacts with what she can do and what not, and yes, she has every right to do so. After she survived two times of cancer, she has a different way to see life and to do things. And there´s nothing wrong with that. Absolutely not.
Courtney is a beautiful teenage girl who still struggles with her mother´s sudden death. Living with her Grandmother now for the last school year isn´t easy for her. But she learns a lot while going to the knitting class. Life is teaching her a wonderful lesson and Courtney knows how to take it. I was really impressed by how she handled every situation, how she knew when something was very wrong, and when she was listening to her conscious and what her guts were saying. An absolutely adorable girl.
Conclusion
Not sure if I will continue this series. It seems always to be the same pattern the author is using to put her story and characters on display. Yes, the problems they´re all having are nothing to take lightly, but for me, A Good Yarn was a bit too much of everything. Good, I gave it a higher rating than I did with book one. But still ….
Happy reading
*I read the German edition new release by mtb on January 9, 2017
Debbie Macomber
Debbie Macomber is the owner of the Victorian Tea Room and the yarn shop A Good Yarn, which was named after the store in her successful book Blossom Street. She is the author of Sweet Tomorrows, among many other books, and a leading voice in women´s fiction. Ten of her novels have reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller lists, and five of her beloved Christmas novels have been hit movies on the Hallmark Channel, including Mrs. Miracle and Mr. Miracle. Hallmark Channel also produced the original series Debbie Macomber´s Cedar Cove, based on Macomber´s Cedar Cove books. She has more than 200 million copies of her books in print worldwide. Debbie Macomber, who likes to be a grandmother, lives with her husband Wayne in Port Orchard, Washington, where her novels play and spends the winter in Florida.