Customer Reviews

Back on Blossom Street (Blossom Street, No. 3)

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Those eagerly awaiting a return to Seattle's Blossom Street will be pleased with Macomber's sequel to The Shop On Blossom Street. Many remember that cancer survivor Lydia Goetz opened a shop, The Good Yarn, which soon housed a knitting class of four women who forged friendships and helped each other through life's rough spots. The same kind of caring and helpfulness are found in Back On Blossom Street. Those who enjoy a feel-good listen will find it here.

For those who don't understand the healing properties knitting offers, Lydia explains it thusly, "Knitting was my salvation. That's something I've said often, I know, but it's simply the truth. Even now, after nearly ten years of living cancer-free, knitting dominates my life. Because of my yarn store, I've become part of a community of knitters and friends."

She is now beginning a new knitting class and this time the work is on prayer shawls. Among the knitters are Colette Blake, a young widow employed at the new shop next door that offers flowers and floral arrangements. Colette had been romantically involved with her previous employer who is now frequently ordering flowers - all too much for her to process. Clicking needles right along side her is Susannah Nelson, the owner of the flower shop.

Making a return visit is Alix Townsend, the daughter of ne'er-do-well parents who is now engaged to Rev. Jordan Turner. The wedding, which she had imagined as a small, meaningful occasion is quickly becoming a major social event. Now, just a few months before her walk down the aisle Alix is beginning to wonder whether or not she is cut out to be a minister's wife.

Add to these worries Lydia's sister's daughter being the victim of a car jacking and Lydia's gradual awareness that her history of cancer may prevent her from ever having children of her own.

However, according to the author's premise, there is healing in friendship and often a solution to one's problem is discovered in the words of another.

"Back on Blossom Street" is a warm, pour yourself a cup of tea listening experience, especially as read by Laural Merlington, a voice performer with some 30 years of experience who narrates with grace and good humor.

- Gail Cooke

I may be a man, and not just a man, but a fireman, but even firemen need to wind down after battling five-alarm blazes, prying victims out of wrecked cars, and saving little kitties down from trees, and I can think of no better way of winding down than to knit one, purl two, or read about others knitting and purling as they discuss their domestic problems and find solutions that celebrate the joys of friendship, understanding, and, of course, knitting.

I have been a fan of Debbie Macomber's Blossom Street series ever since reading the very first book, "The Shop on Blossom Street", and with each new book have eagerly revisited that Street where Lydia, the proprietor of the title shop, A Good Yarn, holds a knitting class where fellow knitters come to knit, share their woes, and find both companionship and the answers to their problems.

"Back on Blossom Street" continues the fine tradition of the first two books in the series, and we meet new, likeable characters who enter into the comforting world of Blossom Street and A Good Yarn seeking a good knit but finding so much more. Lydia has troubles of her own concerning her beloved niece and the possibility of never bearing children, and finds that what works for her students also works for her as she opens up to her class with her own problems.

At the firehouse I've often tried to initiate the kind of heart-felt, open discussions of problems and feelings that take place in A Good Yarn, but the guys just ignore me, tell me to stop acting like a "wuss", or string me up the flagpole by my underwear. Because of such callous and macho attitudes, I am always buying new underwear, as well as thanking Debbie Macomber that at any time I can pick up her book and find myself, dare I say it, back on Blossom Street.

In the third book of this series, Lydia Goetz has started a new knitting class in which each member will make a prayer shawl. While the class is going on, each one is living through a difficult time in her life. Alix is engaged to be married but her best friend and her prospective mother-in-law are planning the wedding without any regard for the wishes of Alix and her fiance, Jordan. Colette is till mourning the death of her husband and is confused about her feelings for her former boss, who seems to be involved in illegal business transactions. Lydia and her sister Margaret are concerned about their mother's health and also about Margaret's daughter, Julia, who is the victim of a violent crime. The women knit together, share their problems, and form close friendships. The characters in this book are not quite as compelling as some of the previous ones, but it is still a good read.

Those of us who follow the Blossom Street series have been looking forward to this next entry, and it doesn't disappoint as we visit our old friends like Lydia Goetz (now happily married to Brad) and her sister Margaret, who is facing a new and frightening problem.

A welcome return is Alix Townsend, whom we first met as a rebellious street person and who is now about to marry her preacher fiance Jordan...

Much of this book is about Christian values and redemption through forgiveness and prayer. If readers are not of the Christian faith, the values expressed in the book are so universal and so gently and sweetly expressed (as Macomber always does) that it truly applies to everyone.

I did not like this book as much as the other two, because some of the easy solutions to truly serious problems were too simplistic even for me...but I'm sure I'm in the minority. As I have said in other reviews, if you like Macomber, you'll like this book.

I read Susannah's Garden last year and A Good Yarn two years ago, and I was concerned that it wouldn't be easy to pick up this continuing story after such a long break. I needn't have worried because Debbie Macomber is a master at reintroducing the characters and setting without being repetitive, triggering the memory and making it seem like days instead of years had passed since I last visited Lydia and the gang. I just love the way she makes the characters seem like your friends, and the setting feel like your neighborhood - it's a total immersion into the setting and the lives of these dear people. Some of the conflicts seemed to be resolved too easily to be realistic, but I suppose that contributed to the soothing joy of reading this wonderful book!

Back on Blossom Street contains another trio of women looking for answers. They are three courageous and very different individuals that become fast friends while helping one another excavate the keys to life's challenges amid their daily turmoil. They do this with help from Lydia's delightful shop, A Good Yarn, and a new floral shop next door, Susannah's Garden (also a Macomber book). Susannah herself joins the cast.

These brilliantly portrayed women bring their lives to Lydia's knitting classes and divulge themselves by small measures in a place they will embrace as a sanctuary. This story is of Alix, Lydia, and the mysterious widow Collette, but includes other circles of three as well. They are all intertwined around the first three, their stories blooming up and down Blossom Street.

I could hear foghorns in the harbor and see that portion of downtown Seattle with its shops and grocer's stalls. With an apartment above the yarn shop, books and flowers next door, and a friend's bakery across the street, why did Lydia move? That is another good yarn.

Life's greatest sunshine and darkest skies are shared deep inside A Good Yarn, around a heavy wooden table where knitters click needles, tell stories, and support one another away from the city. This reminds me of the Star Trek(tm) The Captain's Table series wherein weary starship captains discover a door not always apparent in the fog. When they enter, they can tell their stories to appreciative comrades in arms.

Lydia's table is the descendant of the quilting bee and the knitter's improvement on the support group, but women around this table are more effective than therapy.

This installment of the Blossom Street knitters challenges women with outrageous wedding plans, mental illness, a carjacking, illegal immigration, babies, loss, and wonder. It also contains the best-portrayed senior woman I have seen in some while. Noting Alix's use of the AA term "stinkin' thinkin'," I await more novels in this series, perhaps dealing with her youth ministry and the plague and redemption from drugs and alcohol.

Recommends for teens and adults who like Seattle, friendship, and meeting life events with a can-do attitude.

Armchair Interviews says: We hope there will be at least a dozen more in this series.

I loved this book! I have read the other 2 books in the series and this book was like a visit with old friends, and meeting some new ones too! This is a great book!

Lydia Goetz and the Blossom Street crew are back and the there's more going on than meets the eye. The owner of the shop next door has just hired a young widow, Colette Blake. Lydia takes an immediate liking to her, even renting her the apartment above her store, A Good Yarn. Lydia's sister, and only employee, Margaret, isn't so sure about Colette. She thinks Colette is too quiet and certainly must be hiding something.

When Lydia organizes a new knitting class, she invites Colette to join. When Colette's boss herself joins and encourages Colette, she can't help but accept. The other member of the class is Alix Townsend, who is planning her upcoming wedding. Unfortunately for Alix, every decision she makes is overturned by her soon-to-be mother-in-law, who would like nothing better than to plan the wedding herself.

Alix and Colette develop a friendship and a trust because of their struggles. But, can they help one another keep afloat in the churning water that lie ahead?

Lydia seeks to help her sister overcome her negative attitude, but a car accident involving her daughter threatens to send Margaret off the deep end. Can they come together to support one another during these hard time?

Debbie Macomber tackles the topic of families in conflict in this inspiring novel. The writing in Back on Blossom Street is upbeat and easy to read, making it an enjoyable journey into the lives of each character. Macomber doesn't shy away from hard topics such as out-of-wedlock pregnancy, mental health and a variety of other sensitive subjects.

Each theme is handled with grace and the reader will come away with a renewed respect for the institution of family - both biological families and those bonds formed with close friends.

I began reading Debbie Macomber's books last year, starting with A Good Yarn and have been enthralled with all her books since. I've read the whole series now of Blossom Street and hope the story doesn't end anytime soon. I've also enjoyed the Cedar Cove series with such delight. It has been a wonderful experience reading her work and she has become a favorite author of mine. I can't say enough of her talent. I recommend all of her books to anyone who is looking for clean and wonderful stories to read. Thank you Tracy Edgmon

Lydia Goetz's yarn shop is doing well and has sparked a bit of a renaissance in its neighborhood with new specialty stories opening and growing. To help promote the business, Lydia decides to start a new class--this one based on knitting a prayer shawl. Each of the woman who signs up brings a set of issues with them. Alix Townsend thinks her life should be perfect because she's engaged to a wonderful man (and minister) but the wedding has got out of hand and is showing her things about her fiance that aren't so wonderful at all. Colette is on the run after a one-night-stand with her ex-boss and her decision to report him to the authorities for an apparent involvement in smuggling Chinese into America. Lydia's sister Margaret had been doing well but when Margaret's daughter is carjacked and injured, Margaret becomes consumed with anger and hatred. And Lydia herself, although supported by a wonderful husband, must deal with her aging mother who is suffering from Alzheimer's and with the realization that she truly wants a child that her cancer treatment makes a virtual impossibility.

Each of the woman struggles with their problems, finding help from each other and from an older generation of women who have already lived through so much and has learned life's lessons the hard way. For some, prayer offers hope, and the prayer shawl becomes symbolic of the changes taking place in their lives.

Author Debbie Macomber specializes in delivering wonderful characters. Each of these people seems real, has their insecurities, their weaknesses, their flaws, as well as unexpected strengths. For many, especially Lydia and Margaret, there's the sense of being caught in the middle, between aging parents and children, both of whom need more attention than any one person can afford. In adulthood, sibling rivalries are transformed, but they never completely go away. Macomber's characters are all so different: watching them interact and grow sustains reader interest through the novel.

BACK ON BLOSSOM STREET is no thriller. The story is one of character growth and realization rather than adventure and danger. Many of the choices these women make are flawed--but come naturally from their experience. Will Alix be happy with Jordan considering how quick he was to ignore her concerns? Alix hopes so, and we as readers hope so, too, but I also worry that she's mistaken her fantasy for reality. That I care about this, considering that Alix is a fictional person, certainly says something about Macomber's talent as a writer.

For me, the faith and prayers were a bit much, and I would have liked to see a bit more of a relationship between Colette and Christian before they made decisions about their future, but BACK ON BLOSSOM STREET is classic Debbie Macomber. Her fans will be overjoyed to see so many favorite characters returned in another thoughtful and sometimes tear-provoking story.