The Tapestry of Love, by Rosy Thornton

Perhaps it was the beauty of the mountain and trees in a small town in France that pulled me in.  Or maybe it was Catherine Parkstone, a divorced woman from England who decides to move to the small town that got me.  And then there was also the feel of the needle that I felt in my hands as Catherine works on tapestries and divans and builds her little business in France.

What an extremely nice and pleasant read I had, walking along through the world of Rosy Thornton's story, The Tapestry of Love.  Catherine Parkstone has left her life in England and moved to France, to start anew and set herself up in a small business as a seamstress.  Her children are fully grown, and Catherine knows that the time is now to find her place in life, her true place.

You're not from here.  Says the man on the road in the middle of the storm to Catherine...but she is valiantly taking one step after another.  She encounters quite a bit in her new home and town, with her eccentric neighbors (oh, how I adored Monsier and Madame Bouschet!), and her attempts to understand the requirements of setting up a home based business in France are quite endearing.  Her daughter is a free-spirited writer, her son is a quiet scientist, and her sister Bryony is a top-notch partner at a law firm, and each of them are part of her lives either by visiting or calling her (which even the phone system is one that Catherine has a bit of interest in trying to figure out in the quiet French country).  And as Catherine attempts to live her life by a specific routine, her neighbor Patrick has entered and has placed a slight bit of anticipation and question in her life.  When Bryony comes to visit, it certainly throws things for a bit of a loop.

This story is about life, relationships, and finding your own place amongst it all, and being able to find it even a bit later in life.  You are on your own, your children are grown -- there is no more obligation other than to yourself.  Your identity is one to now make separate of everything else, without anyone else "taking care of things."  It is now up to you, and in this story, it is now Catherine's choices all on her own.  Catherine is a lovable character and there were moments when my heart broke for her as I felt for her quiet strength as she interacted with her family and especially as she dealt with her loving, yet goal-oriented sister.  I enjoyed the images of the rolling countryside of the South of France that went through my mind and I eagerly hopped onto the Internet to Google Le Cevennes.    This was my first Rosy Thornton novel, and I shan't expect it to be my last.

Happy Reading!
Coffee and a Book Chick