4 Star
Tom Putnam has resigned himself to a quiet and half-fulfilled life. An English professor in a sleepy college town, he spends his days browsing the Shakespeare shelves at the campus bookstore, managing the oddball faculty in his department and caring, alongside his formidable mother-in-law, for his wife Marjory, a fragile shut-in with unrelenting neuroses, a condition exacerbated by her discovery of Tom’s brief and misguided affair with a visiting poetess a decade earlier.
Then, one evening at the bookstore, Tom and Marjory meet Rose Callahan, the shop's charming new hire, and Marjory invites Rose to their home for dinner, out of the blue, her first social interaction since her breakdown. Tom wonders if it’s a sign that change is on the horizon, a feeling confirmed upon his return home, where he opens a letter from his former paramour, informing him he'd fathered a son who is heading Tom's way on a train. His mind races at the possibility of having a family after so many years of loneliness. And it becomes clear change is coming whether Tom’s ready or not.
Sabrina-Kate - 4 Star
Small Blessings is a quirky story with a unique cast of characters who quickly endeared themselves to me. Told as a simple story about simple people with hopes and dreams and fears like all of us, it was a classic tale of honest to goodness life.
The characters were all unique but bonded together to help each other out. It was like a quaint small town story but with only good intentions. The story felt like it might be predictable at first but it ended up taking quite a few unexpected turns that only made it that much sweeter of a story.
Interspersed with great dialogue and wry humor, I really enjoyed this author's writing style. Each character went on their own personal journeys and had life changing choices to make. They changed and evolved, adding their own important parts.
This story was a breath of fresh air with its lovable characters who portray the important things in life which are a hallmark of a great story. The only minus was the fact that the story wrapped up in a not so tidy way but all in all, a read worth it for anyone who loves those Americana type style reads.
Thank you to St Martin's Press for our review copy. All opinions are our own.
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