The Shop on Blossom Street (Blossom Street, No. 1)

See Larger Image	Written By: Debbie Macomber Average Customer Rating:


Binding: Hardcover Format: Bargain Price Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 352 Publication Date: 2004-05-01
Related Items A Good Yarn (Blossom Street, No. 2) Back on Blossom Street (Blossom Street, No. 3) 16 Lighthouse Road (Cedar Cove, Book 1) Twenty Wishes (Blossom Street, No. 4) 204 Rosewood Lane (Cedar Cove, Book 2)
Editorial Reviews: Four lives knit together ... There's a little shop on Blossom Street in Seattle called A Good Yarn. You go there to buy knitting supplies and patterns -- and now it's offering a knitting class. The first lesson: how to knit a baby blanket. For owner Lydia Hoffman, the shop represents her dream of beginning a new life free from the cancer that has ravaged her twice. A life that offers a chance at love ... and maybe marriage. Jacqueline Donovan is stuck in a marriage that has dwindled into an arrangement of separate rooms and separate lives. She disapproves of the woman married to her only son, but if she knits a baby blanket, she can at least pretend to like her pregnant daughter-in-law. For Carol Girard, the baby blanket brings a message of hope as she and her husband make a final attempt at in vitro pregnancy. And tense-looking Alix Townsend -- that's Alix with an "i" -- is learning to knit her blanket for her court-ordered community service project. Brought together by an age-old craft, these four women make unexpected discoveries -- about themselves and each other. Discoveries that lead to love, to friendship and acceptance, to laughter and dreams. Performed by Linda Emond
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: More Than Knitting Comment: There's a little yarn shop on Blossom Street in Seattle. It's owned by Lydia Hoffman, and it represents her dream of a new life free from cancer. A life that offers a chance at love... Lydia teaches knitting to beginners, and the first class is "How To Make a Baby Blanket." Three women join. Jacqueline Donovan wants to knit something for her grandchild as a gesture of reconciliation with her daughter-in-law. Carol Girard feels that the baby blanket is a message of hope as she makes a final attempt to conceive. And Alix Townsend is knitting her blanket for a court-ordered community service project. These four very different women, brought together by an age-old craft, make unexpected discoveries --- about themselves and each other. Discoveries that lead to friendship and more... This book was wonderful!!! Each of the characters were so different, you would never put them together but Ms. Macomber does in a way that is not only very believeable but touching as well. Four unlikely women in a class where they not only learn to knit a baby blanket, they knit together a friendship as well. Jacqueline hates her new daughter in law and is having trouble with her spouse, she hopes knitting this blanket will help her feel more bonded to her soon to be grandbaby. She intially holds herself above the rest of the group. Alix is an odd fit because of her dyed hair, attitude and leather. She joins because she is trying to fill community service hours, but is secretly trying to get some nurturing she never had growing up. Carol wants a baby so bad and this is her last chance at invitro, she has given up so much for a chance at being a mother. And then there is Lydia, the owner of the shop and teacher. A cancer survivor, opening the shop is her "affirmation to life". Whether you knit or not, this book so enjoyable. While there is a lot of focus on knitting, as a non-knitter myself, I didn't find it distracting from the story. Knitters will love the free pattern for the baby blanket that the characters in the story are knitting. It may even inspire readers to take up knitting themselves. A very good, heartwarming read that I would recommend to anyone. Customer Rating: Summary: falls short of heart-warming Comment: A friend of mine lent me this book, thinking I might like it since I have lived in Seattle and like to knit, but I was pretty disappointed. The idea for the story was promising, but the storytelling was just too packed with cliches, and the character development was downright phony. The basic premise is that a cancer survivor opens a knitting store in an attempt at a fresh start: new job, new life, new independence from family. She holds an introductory knitting class, and meets three very different other women also looking for something new in their lives. Unfortunately these three women are hollow stereotypes: we have the snobby rich lady, the unhappy "career woman", and the goth chick. The author assumes the readers will be so unfamiliar with a young woman in goth clothing that, on the same page she is introduced, she flashes back to the traumatic childhood that yielded her "strange" way of dressing. These characters are introduced in a flurry of interleaved cliches and immediately confess their life stories and motivations to the reader. What ever happened to that resilient axiom of good writing: show instead of tell? The most troubling of these stereotypes is the "career woman" who has a vaguely described job in finance, and is punished for her ambition (by the author) with an inability to conceive, due to "stress." So she quits her job and starts trying to get pregnant full-time, gives up her good health insurance to be on her husband's limited health insurance, which ironically has limited coverage of the fertility treatments she needs. And she pines and pines for babies. Moral: guess what modern woman, you can't have it all. This concept of a female writer punishing a female character for bravely trying to live a balanced, happy, successful life was common in literature a generation ago, but I thought in this day and age we had gotten past that. I guess I was wrong. The back of the book claims that Debbie Macomber "understands the soul of women." Not my soul, thank you very much, but I suppose I'm just not the target demographic. Customer Rating: Summary: Debbie Macomber Comment: I surely wish there were a shop like this in my neighborhood. These women could be life long friends of mine! Customer Rating: Summary: Good Reead! Comment: This was just a really good story. The characters felt like people I could know and like. In fact I've now read all but Twenty wishes and loved them all! Customer Rating: Summary: good if you want something light Comment: If you are looking for something light while you're waiting at the airport, etc., this is a good book. She does repeat herself a little bit, but maybe some people find that helpful if they can't remember characters. More Reviews