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

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
Blossom Street where you'll find everything you're looking for! From yarn and flowers to friendship

There's a new shop on Seattle's Blossom Street a flower store called Susannah's Garden, right next door to A Good Yarn. Susannah Nelson, the owner, has just hired an assistant named Colette Blake, a young widow who's obviously hiding a secret or two.

When Susannah and Colette both join Lydia Goetz's new knitting class, they discover that Lydia and her sister, Margaret, have worries of their own. Margaret's daughter, Julia, is the victim of a random carjacking, and the entire family is thrown into emotional chaos.

Then there's Alix Townsend, whose wedding is only months away. She's not sure she can go through with it, though. A reception at the country club, with hundreds of guests she's never met it's just not Alix. But, like everyone else in Lydia's knitting class, she knows there's a solution to every problem and that another woman can usually help you find it!

Customer Reviews: Read 59 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Knit your problems away April 26, 2007
19 out of 21 found this review helpful

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.

4 out of 5 stars

WARM AND HOPEFUL - GOOD LISTENING May 3, 2007
14 out of 14 found this review helpful

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

4 out of 5 stars

Another Good Yarn May 5, 2007
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

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.

4 out of 5 stars

Nothing Surprising, But Sweet June 28, 2007
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

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.

3 out of 5 stars

Pot boiler of a literary soap-opera in Macomber's return to knitting. October 18, 2007
7 out of 11 found this review helpful

Usually I stay away from what used to be termed women's fiction, finding it a bit too much on the fluffy and drama side of things. The plots are full of family melodrama, tending to revolve around unwanted pregnancies, conflicts in love and careers, and life-threatening illnesses. Think of them as soap-operas, written for a literate audience.

I first encountered Debbie Macomber's books when a friend mentioned that the art of knitting played an important part in The Shop on Blossom Street, the first of the series, and that the main character was a cancer survivor. At the time I was going through a rough patch, and decided to read it for something lighter than my usual fare. Too, the book was set in Seattle, a place I remembered well from growing up.

Now in the third book of the series, author Debbie Macomber returns to Blossom Street, a once run-down neighborhood that is starting to flourish again from small shops that are opening. The first shop, A Good Yarn, is still being run by Lydia, who narrates a good portion of the novel from a first-person stance, and has gotten married to her beau, Brad the UPS guy. She is still teaching her knitting classes, and has rented out her apartment to Colette, a young woman who appears to have quite a mystery about her.

Colette has found a job with Lydia's new neighbor, Susannah (from another of Macomber's novels), who has opened up a flower shop. The reader quickly discovers why Colette is hiding -- her former employer seems to have gotten involved with an illegal alien smuggling scheme, and it was Colette who dropped a letter to the INS. Too, a Christmas party got out of hand, and she ended up emotionally entangled with her boss, Christian Dempsey. If that wasn't enough, Colette is mourning the loss of her husband in a tragic home repair accident. To say that this woman has baggage is an understatement.

A former character, Alix, has returned as well. Working at a cafe across the street as a baker, Alix is engaged to be married to a young pastor, Jordan Turner. Despite their wishes for a small, family-centered wedding, her future mother-in-law, Mrs. Turner, and Jacqueline have taken it upon themselves to create a huge wedding, and more or less shoved Alix right out of the decision making process -- something that Alix resents bitterly. Too, she's haunted by the thoughts that she's not good enough for Jordan, and that everyone will be looking for her to show her 'true colours.'

Finally, there is Lydia's sister, Margaret. Life is a bit more stable, but everything is about to go to pieces when her daughter, Julia, is badly injured in a carjacking, and Margaret is out for blood, a hunger for venegeance not just ruining her daughter's recovery, but also stressing everyone around her.

I won't reveal how everything is resolved here, but by the last page, everyone's problems have been solved, some by strikes of immense good fortune, meddling relations, and other twists. Sadly, it's pretty predictable, unfortunately, with Macomber revealing most of the big twists by telling the reader within the first twenty pages or so. For me, that blew some of the interest and mystery of the story -- of the three stories, Colette's is the most interesting, but everything is blown apart right away by knowing just what happened with her boss, the INS letter and her doubts. As this is a modern romance, we know that Colette's problems will be solved by the last page, but it certainly would have made for more interesting reading if the author had only bothered to be a bit more skillful in how she revealed those details instead of clumping it all together in a few paragraphs.

After that, I was about to give up on the story, but the only reason why I even bother with this series is for one little detail -- the knitting patterns and advice and links that Macomber gives in each of her 'knitting' series. The websites and quotes from various knitting mavins are very useful, and the patterns easy to follow.

My biggest problem with this one is that the intelligent reader can figure out within the first hundred pages how most of this is going to turn out. The writing style is so placid and harmless that except for several scenes with Margaret and her family, there's not a lot of excitement going on. Even then, it's not much more than a tepid simmer, and resembles a rather muddy puddle in a side alley for all of the emotional depth that it carries. All of the characters are pretty much one-notes, with lots of internal angst, and not much else.

That's too bad. It's this sort of writing that gives romance a bad name in the industry, and there was so much wasted potential in this novel. I can really only give it three stars, marking it as just average. If you're into knitting, I would rather suggest the collection of knitting patterns that are derived from this series and released by Leisure Arts books.

Somewhat recommended, depending on your reading tastes.

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