The Shop on Blossom Street (Blossom Street, No. 1) [Abridged] [Audio CD]

Debbie Macomber (Author), Linda Emond (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 10, 2005

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

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A Seattle knitting store brings together four very different women in this earnest tale about friendship and love. Lydia Hoffman, a two-time cancer survivor, opens the shop A Good Yarn as a symbol of the new life she plans to lead. She starts a weekly knitting class, hoping to improve business and make friends in the area. The initial class project is a baby blanket, and Macomber (Changing Habits), a knitter herself who offers tips about the craft and pithy observations from knitting professionals throughout the novel, includes the knitting pattern at the start of the book. Well-heeled Jacqueline Donovan, who chooses to ignore her empty marriage, disguises her disdain for her pregnant daughter-in-law by knitting a baby blanket. Carol Girard joins the group as an affirmation of her hopes to finally have a successful in vitro pregnancy. Alix Townsend, a high school dropout with an absentee father and a mother incarcerated for forging checks, uses the class to satisfy a court-ordered community service sentence for a drug-possession conviction for which her roommate is really responsible. Unfortunately, Macomber doesn't get much below the surface of her characters, and, although they all have interesting back stories, the arc of each individual happy ending is too predictable. The only surprise involves Alix's hapless, overweight roommate, Laurel, and even this smacks of plot-driven manipulation. Macomber is an adept storyteller overall, however, and many will be entertained by this well-paced story about four women finding happiness and fulfillment through their growing friendships.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Debbie Macomber is a skilled storyteller and a sure-buy with readers." -- Publishers Weekly

"Debbie Macomber tells women's stories in a way no one else does." -- BookPage --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: HarperAudio (May 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060820985
• ISBN-13: 978-0060820985
• Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (119 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #273,745 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

With more than 100 million copies of her books sold worldwide, Debbie Macomber is one of today's most popular authors.

The #1 New York Times bestselling author is best known for her ability to create compelling characters and bring their stories to life in her books. Drawing on her own experiences and observations, Debbie writes heartwarming tales about small-town life, home and family and enduring friendships. Every book features the delightful sense of humor that readers around the world clamor for.

Debbie is a regular resident on numerous bestseller lists, including the New York Times (55 times and counting), USA TODAY (currently 63 times) and Publishers Weekly (23 times to date). She is the first-ever recipient of the "readers' choice" Quill Award for Romance Fiction, for 44 Cranberry Point, the fourth book in her highly popular Cedar Cove series. Debbie has also been honored with a RITA® Award, a Romantic Times BOOKreviews Career Achievement Award and is a multiple winner of both the Holt Medallion and the B. Dalton Award.

Her recent books include 92 Pacific Boulevard, 8 Sandpiper Way, 74 Seaside Avenue and Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove Cookbook, as well as Twenty Wishes, A Cedar Cove Christmas, Summer on Blossom Street and The Perfect Christmas.

For more information on Debbie and her books, visit her Web site: www.DebbieMacomber.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Friendships Among the Yarns and Knitting Needles!, August 20, 2005

By 

Nancy R. Katz "NancyK18" (NJ) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Shop on Blossom Street (Blossom Street, No. 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

With a renewed interest in knitting on my part, and having enjoyed several books by Debbie Macomber in the past, I recently read and enjoyed The Shop on Blossom Street. And whether you're an old time knitter or this is your first time learning to cast on and purl, I do recommend you read a book which blends a hobby with personal friendships.

The Shop on Blossom Street books tells the story of a young woman and cancer survivor who opens a knitting store. Offering knitting classes to attract customers, three women come to the shop to learn how to make a baby blanket. But these three women couldn't be more different or come to the classes for different reasons which don't necessarily include learning how to knit. And we as readers watch as these three women learn the stitches, watch their baby blankets take shape, and find themselves learning more about each other, helping each other with their projects and influencing each other's lives. By the end of the book we find them forming lasting friendships and we know we won't soon forget these knitters.

Similar to the premise of Debbie Macomber's book, Thursdays at Eight which I really enjoyed, The Shop on Blossom Street while somehwat perdictable was a good journey and satisfying destination. The best part is that the sequel, A Good Yarn, was recently published and I look forward to reading this shortly.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars EASY, RELAXING LISTENING, August 23, 2004

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Shop on Blossom Street (Blossom Street, No. 1) (Audio Cassette)

Obie Award winner and Tony nominee Linda Emond gives a light and sympathetic reading to this story of a group of four women who share a love for knitting and a determination to overcome obstacles.

Lydia Hoffman has overcome cancer and now she realizes a dream by opening a shop in Seattle called A Good Yarn. It's a comfortable, homey place that offers knitting supplies and patterns. Before long it also houses a knitting class. The first lesson? A baby blanket.

Jacqueline Donovan comes to the class hopefully. Her marriage has soured into a sometimes amicable, lots of space between each other arrangement. The blanket is for her daughter-in-law, the young woman who married her only son. Jacqueline doesn't care for her at all. Can a baby blanket cover those feelings?

Another woman comes to class who also has thoughts of a baby - Carol Girard and her spouse are making one more try for a child with in vitro pregnancy. Alix Townsend is almost the antithesis of Carol, reluctantly knitting her blanket as part of her community service project.

What a disparate, interesting quartet! Easy, relaxing listening.

- Gail Cooke

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars deep character study, April 29, 2004

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Shop on Blossom Street (Blossom Street, No. 1) (Hardcover)

Lydia Hoffman has defeated cancer twice. To celebrate life, Lydia opens A Good Yarn, a knitting supplies store in Seattle. She also teaches a class on knitting. The first lesson is "How to Knit a Baby Blanket".

Jacqueline Donovan reacts poorly to her son's news that she is to be a grandmother for the first time. She does not like her daughter-in-law Tammie Lee. Maybe her bitterness is because she knows her marriage to Reese, a partner in an architectural firm, is dying. She must make amends with her son Paul so she joins A Good Yarn knitting class.

Desperate to become pregnant, Carol Girard joins the class seeking hope that her and her husband Doug's final attempt with in vitro pregnancy succeeds. This is her last chance to have the child she craves.

The court ordered Alix Townsend to do community service as part of her sentencing. She decides that knitting for the Linus Project should satisfy her case worker. However, she needs to first learn to knit so she joins the class too.

This four diverse women bond in friendship and love as they work on the baby blanket. Though their individual dreams may not be answered, a group dream forges as each learns the meaning of life.

THE SHOP ON BLOSSOM STREET is a fabulous deep character study that rotates the narration between the women so that the audience has four subplots that cleverly knit together into a powerful look at the ups and downs of modern day living. Though not all dreams are fulfilled and some change for instance to cooking, fans will enjoy Debbie Macomber's strong tale of four females struggling to overcome different setbacks.

Harriet Klausner