Review: "The Tapestry of Love" by Rosy Thornton

Divorced with grown children, tapestry maker Catherine Parkstone longs for a change of pace. She finds it in the Cevennes mountains in France, in a cottage called Les Fenils, close to a place where she vacationed as a child. There Catherine plans to start a small upholstery and tapestry business and to fulfill her dreams. What she doesn't plan for is the fact that she will become so enamoured with the little town and her neighbors, especially the mysterious Patrick Castagnol.

Despite the fact that the plot it is a good one, The Tapestry of Love is not really about the plot. It's about the people who inhabit the small town where she lives. It's about neighbors and how they can ingrain themselves into your life, and it's about the importance of family and true friends. The Tapestry of Love reflects on the gentle rhythms of everyday life, on those motions that we often don't notice because we're so busy bustling from one place to the next.

Even though I didn't have a lot in common with our protagonist Catherine, I did enjoy the story of her dreams becoming realities. Despite the fact that most of the story is quiet and reflective, it is not devoid of those things that make everyday life complicated. Disappointment and heartbreak are evident within the pages. However along with the disappointment and heartbreak is hope for the future and true friendship, and these things balance each other out as they often do.

The Tapestry of Love reminded me at times of the memoir A Gift From Brittany, a true story of one woman who packs up her things and moves to a remote village in France. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a story that reflects on the things that are really important to one's well being in life, a story that is removed from the hustle and bustle of ordinary life.

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Recommended to: Armchair travellers, those who are looking for a feel-good story
Challenges: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge, New Author Challenge 2010

Thank-you to the author for sending me this copy in exchange for my honest review.