Debbie Macomber, Back on Blossom Street

Back on Blossom Street

Debbie Macomber

Mira, May 2007, $24.95

ISBN: 0778324516

On Blossom Street in Seattle, Lydia Goetz and her sister Margaret own A Good Yarn where they sell knitting paraphernalia and provide class instructions. Renting the apartment above the store is thirty-one-year-old grieving widow Colette Blake, who has signed up to attend the prayer shawl knitting class and is confused by her desire for her employer Christian Dempsey. Family friend, baker Alix Townsend, feels overwhelmed by her upcoming, out-of-control marriage to Reverend Jordan Turner because she fears her reprobate DNA is not suited for the life of a pastor's wife. Margaret's daughter is a carjacking victim. Finally, Lydia feels incomplete as a woman as cancer has pretty much wiped out her chance to ever give birth. Over knitting, these friends and family find comfort, one stitch at a time.

Fans of the Seattle series will appreciate the latest traumas, tragedies, and joys as the knitting clan come together to help one another overcome adversity and share in rejoicing. The storyline is more a series of vignettes as focus rotates between the well developed ensemble cast. Debbie Macomber shows her skill with each key player being unique. Although similar in tone to the previous A GOOD YARN tales and that of the Cedar Cove saga (does anyone bring alive the picturesque northwest better than Ms. Macomber does?), readers will enjoy the ups, downs, and ups of this knitting crew.

Harriet Klausner