Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Her best yet - an absolute must read, 29 Jun 2010
This review is from: The Tapestry of Love (Hardcover)
I've enjoyed all Rosy Thornton's books so far but I have to say that Tapestry of Love is my favourite by quite a way. There is always warmth and empathy in her novels - for family, for people and places - but Tapestry of Love for me, was on a different level to the others. Essentially, Tapestry of Love is about a divorced Englishwoman moving to the rugged Cevennes mountains and discovering new relationships and a new way of life. I could feel the bitter Cevennes wind and the summer heat, smell the earth, taste the cooking (there's a lot of cooking and nurturing in this book.) The characters are as ever, finely drawn but to me, more vivid, more alive and more sympathetic than those in her earlier novels. There is also a beautifully developed romance and some surprises I never saw coming... but to say more would give away spoilers.
I know this was my favourite Thornton novel because it made me really *feel* - and that doesn't happen to me very often when I read books these days.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
SO glad I now know who Rosy Thornton is!, 9 Aug 2010
This review is from: The Tapestry of Love (Hardcover)
Okay, firstly I have to say that I am usually of the `trashier the better' kind of attitude. If I am reading Chick Lit, I love the sleaze and glamour of it all. On the other side of the fence, I love a good crime thriller where we see the regular cop heroes turn up at every given opportunity. However, this book certainly doesn't fit into the Chick Lit genre and I would be at a loss as to where to place it. It is a `real' book, that's the best way I can describe it. There is no gush, no fairytale typical storylines, and certainly no murders!
Rosy Thornton has managed to produce a book that doesn't just tell you a story; it parks your butt on a plane and actually takes you there. Her style of writing is unusual in comparison to what I am used to but it is brilliant all the same. I could almost imagine myself sitting in the corner of Catherin Parkstone's kitchen in the Cevennes Mountains and actually watching her life unfold. The characters are written really well and there is such an element of realism that you find yourself swept along with the tale. The scenery is so well described that it has left a vivid picture in my imagination of what everything and everybody should look like.
The story itself was great too and we meet Catherine's local neighbours, who are at first very `French', making Catherine have to work a lot harder to become part of the community. Catherine's sister Bryony makes an appearance in Cevennes after making a radical decision to take a sabbatical from work. This complicates Catherine's life more than she cares to admit. She struggles to get her priorities in her head the right way round. Although both her children are grown up she finds herself constantly worrying about whether they will be okay and whether moving to this remote part of France was a good idea after all.
The book is structured so that we see her time at her home progress over a number of months which makes it so much easier to imagine the different times of year in this area. It also gives the reader the element of how far she has come and what the future will hold.
All in all this was a fantastic book. I will admit that I would never have chosen this from a bookstore as it doesn't look trashy enough for me, but boy am I glad I read this. A wonderful book with a real touch of realism that is perfect for curling up with. I would highly recommend this book and Rosy Thornton will definitely be added to my list of authors to pre-order from.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A French Idyll, 10 July 2010
This review is from: The Tapestry of Love (Hardcover)
I have read all of Rosy Thornton's novels and I think this is the best yet. Catherine goes to live in France near the small hamlet of St Julien in the Cevennes. She can speak French and she very soon becomes a part of the community. The locals leave her gifts of food on the doorstep and she is quickly on visiting terms with most. She sets up her own business making soft furnishings and doing tapestry work - which presents its own problems with officialdom. Soon after moving she meets the fascinating Patrick Castagnol and her sister Bryony, a high powered lawyer, comes to visit.
I loved the descriptions of the scenery and the everyday village life and people. Catherine herself is an interesting character and the rivalry between her and her sister is well done and believable. Catherine has her problems - a desire for independence and her own space which makes it difficult for her to accept help, a nagging feeling she hasn't visited her mother in England when perhaps she should have done. She worries about her daughter Lexie who seems to be flitting between jobs at an alarming rate and she worries about her ex-husband, Graeme though less so about her son, Tom.
This is a book to sink into on a summer's afternoon with a glass of wine - French of course. It transports you to a different world though not one where everything is sunshine. There are heavy rainstorms and thunder and lightning which always knock out the electricity. In summer it is too hot during the day and work is best done at night. People die and others are born. But this is life lived in the slow lane and the emphasis is on everyday events. The writing is subtle and understated - and all the better for being so. I really enjoyed reading it and would recommend it to anyone who likes such authors as Erica James or Mavis Cheek.
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