The Shop on Blossom Street (Blossom Street, No. 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Debbie Macomber (Author) "The first time I saw the empty store on Blossom Street I thought of my father..." (more)
Key Phrases: bell above the door chimed, knitting class, yarn store, Tammie Lee, Jordan Turner, Linus Project (more...)

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.

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

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Mira (May 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0778321606
• ISBN-13: 978-0778321606
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (102 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,843 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 1 in The Blossom Street Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 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 (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

14 of 14 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 (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

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 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