Friday, January 25, 2013

Review: The Avalon Ladies Scrapbooking Society


About the Book:
At Madeline’s Tea Salon, the cozy hub of the Avalon community, local residents scrapbook their memories and make new ones. But across town, other Avalonians are struggling to free themselves of the past: Isabel Kidd is fixing up her ramshackle house while sorting through the complications of her late husband’s affair. Ava Catalina is mourning the love of her life and helping her young son grow up without his father. Local plumber Yvonne Tate is smart, beautiful, and new to Avalon, but finds that despite a decade of living life on her own terms, the past has a way of catching up—no matter where she goes. And Frances Latham, mother to a boisterous brood of boys, eagerly anticipates the arrival of a little girl from China—unprepared for the emotional roller coaster of foreign adoption.

Enter Bettie Shelton, the irascible founder of the Avalon Ladies Scrapbooking Society. Under Bettie’s guidance, even the most reluctant of Avalon’s residents come to terms with their past and make bold decisions about their future. But when the group receives unexpected news about their steadfast leader, they must pull together to create something truly memorable.

By turns humorous, wise, and deeply moving, The Avalon Ladies Scrapbooking Society is a luminous reminder that the things we hold most dear will last a lifetime.

My Comments:
Well, it was a digital galley; I didn't have to finish it, but I did, so it couldn't have been too bad.  On the other hand it wasn't all that great either.  Basically I found it very busy.  There were a bunch of "main" characters, each of whom had a supporting cast, and while some of the casts overlapped, many didn't.  By the Thanksgiving dinner at the end where they all came together, I didn't really feel I knew the characters much better than I did when they were first introduced.  At first I wondered if this was going to be like Debbie Macomber's yarn shop books, but all these stories seemed to have endings, which isn't say the endings were so final other books wouldn't be possible, but I don't get the impression there is more to come, and even if there is, I won't be reading them.  Sorry, this one only gets a C+.  

No comments:

Post a Comment


View My Stats