The Shop on Blossom Street

by Debbie Macomber

Book Overview

There's a little yarn store in Seattle. It's owned by Lydia Hoffman, and it represents her dream of a new life free from cancer. A life that offers a chance at love... Lydia teaches knitting to beginners, and the first class is "How to Make a Baby Blanket." Three women join. Jacqueline Donovan wants to knit something for her grandchild as a gesture of reconciliation with her daughter-in-law. Carol Girard feels that the baby blanket is a message of...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0778328821
• ISBN13: 9780778328827
• Release Date: April 2010
• Publisher: Mira Books
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.2" x 6.6"

Customer Reviews

absolutely wonderful

Fascinating characters! Wonderful stories that pull you into the story and each characters life. They are all so different, yet all so interesting. Couldn’t put the book down!

What a wonderful Book!!!

I loved this book.. These women are all different but some how manage to come together and find common ground sharing their stories and struggles. These women could be your Mother, Aunt, Friend, or Next Door Neighbor.. They are true to life women written in a interwoven story of love, friendship, and hope.. It is a touching and heart warming story that I would recommend highly!!!

Heart Warming

A friend of mine gave me this book and how I enjoyed the story. I could not put it down. I had to find out what was going to happen to each knitter. All their lives were so different, yet they shared the common thread-knitting. What a great way to put a hobby into a story. Knitting and sewing groups are very much like this story, in that a person gains friendships. I plan to read the next book "A Good Yarn".

An easy story in which to lose yourself

If you've not knitted before you read this book, you will want to afterward. This is a feel-good women's book about four very different women who become friends while taking a knitting class from one of them. Lydia Hoffman, twice a cancer survivor, opens A Good Yarn on the last Tuesday of April (any current year). The buildings on Blossom Street, where the store is located, are being renovated, a major undertaking in this particular Seattle neighborhood. Lydia advertises for interested parties to participate in a knitting class on Friday afternoons. Jacqueline Donovan, Carol Girard and Alix (yes, with an "i") take her up on her offer. Jacqueline is a major b..../snob whose marriage has been cold for years and who intensely dislikes her new daughter-in-law who has had the audacity to become pregnant; Carol Girard and her husband, Doug, are desperate for a baby; and Alix Townsend is a troubled girl who still dreams of a boy she "loved" in sixth grade. These four women grow together over the course of about nine months, and we, the readers, accompany them on their journey of growth as individuals, a group, and as knitters. There is a pattern for a baby blanket given at the front of the book and it is also the first project the women undertake in their class. Macomber also occasionally throws in a pithy saying about knitting, such as "In the hands of a knitter, yarn becomes the medium that binds the heart and soul," attributed to Robin Villiers-Furze, The Needleworks Company, Port Orchard, Washington. Macomber's writing style is easy and the story flows well. Her formatting style is to alter chapters by woman; something here about Lydia, something there about Jacqueline, and so on. Oh, and then there's the guys...and what guys they are. Brad Goetz falls in love with Lydia, Reese Donovan still loves his wife, Doug Girard is one patient fellow, and Jordan Turner, well, he's just A-OK! After digesting this book for a few days, I've decided that among the general flavor of the book which I liked a great deal, one of the best things about The Shop on Blossom Street was the guys! What a terrific bunch of hunks, all loving and patient and hot! I'd take any one of the four of them. Carolyn Rowe Hill

She's done it again!

This is a heartwarming book about four very different women who come together in a knitting class. It is classic Debbie Macomber, a compelling story that gives the reader hope for the future as each woman comes to terms with her lot in life, finds the gumption to succeed -- no matter what her aspirations -- and learns to understand and appreciate the people around her. I'd love to see the story go on to the women in the next class. I loved it!

deep character study

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

A Good Yarn!!

Debbie Macomber does a superb job of weaving together a tale of women from different age groups and backgrounds. Each of the women shows moments of courage, fear, turmoil, truimph, and love. If you were a fan of Thursday's at Eight, you'll love this book too. The group starts out knitting a baby blanklet and ends up creating a friendship. I loved the way each of the characters relates to each other in their struggles (health, infertility, broken relationsips, etc.). In both little and large ways, the friendship that is created is stronger and more lasting then any of the blankets knitted.