Wednesday, October 13, 2010

The Tapestry of Love by Rosy Thornton

2 Star

Catherine Parkstone decides to make a fresh start now that her two children are out living their own lives and her marriage is behind her. Moving from the England to the CĂ©vennes mountains in France, she dreams of setting herself up as a seamstress but struggles against the harsh terrain, French bureaucracy and her reserved neighbours. With her introduction to the intriguing Patrick Castagnol and a sudden visit from her sister along with all everything else she has to grapple with in her new town, will Catherine be able to hold on to her dream? 




Lydia - 2 Star

The Tapestry of Love was a richly drawn read about starting over amidst uncertainty. I loved the premise along with the novelty of a story set in France, but unfortunately, I wasn't as drawn into the story as I wanted to be. 

The details about the area, the terrain and neighbours was initially fascinating, but my interest soon waned as it continued throughout much of the first half of the novel. As a positive, I could picture the setting vividly, but unfortunately I couldn't find much plot to hold onto until the later half. Even early in the novel when Catherine's sister visits and throws a glitch in her ideal rural fantasy, I found Catherine's reaction passive where I'd hoped she'd take action. Her struggles against the French bureaucracy was a major theme of the book according to it's synopsis, but it didn't actually begin until well past half way through the novel, and even though it was interesting, overall, it wasn't much of a glitch of conflict.

There were a few moments that snuck up on me emotionally that I wasn't expecting, which I enjoyed. I also liked the subplot of her struggles with her mother's Alzheimer's and that her relationship with her ex-husband was amicable, finding her thoughts on both realistic and conflicting. However, because they were both physically distant we only saw these relationships through her thoughts, which I found didn't give me much to grab onto.

While Thornton definitely has a flair for words, I wished The Tapestry of Love was less wordy with the description and had a bit more conflict and plot to sink my teeth into. I'm curious to see how Kathryn feels about this one. I think she might enjoy it more, having spent time in France and with her typically enjoying small town stories. 

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2 comments:

  1. I received this book a couple of weeks ago from the author and have been looking forward to it. I'm sorry you couldn't get into it as much as you would have liked!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I hope you enjoy it more than I did!

    ReplyDelete

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