“Stitched together with love, this is a story just waiting for your favorite reading chair. With her signature style and skill, Susan Wiggs delivers an intricate patchwork of old wounds and new beginnings, romance and the healing power of friendship, wrapped in a lovely little community that’s hiding a few secrets of its own.” — Lisa Wingate, New York Times Bestselling author of Before We Were … author of Before We Were Yours
The #1 New York Times bestselling author brings us her most ambitious and provocative work yet—a searing and timely novel that explores the most volatile issue of our time—domestic violence.
At the break of dawn, Caroline Shelby rolls into Oysterville, Washington, a tiny hamlet at the edge of the raging Pacific.
She’s come home.
Home to a place she thought she’d left forever, home of her heart and memories, but not her future. Ten years ago, Caroline launched a career in the glamorous fashion world of Manhattan. But her success in New York imploded on a wave of scandal and tragedy, forcing her to flee to the only safe place she knows.
And in the backseat of Caroline’s car are two children who were orphaned in a single chilling moment—five-year-old Addie and six-year-old Flick. She’s now their legal guardian—a role she’s not sure she’s ready for.
But the Oysterville she left behind has changed. Her siblings have their own complicated lives and her aging parents are hoping to pass on their thriving seafood restaurant to the next generation. And there’s Will Jensen, a decorated Navy SEAL who’s also returned home after being wounded overseas. Will and Caroline were forever friends as children, with the promise of something more . . . until he fell in love with Sierra, Caroline’s best friend and the most beautiful girl in town. With her modeling jobs drying up, Sierra, too, is on the cusp of reinventing herself.
Caroline returns to her favorite place: the sewing shop owned by Mrs. Lindy Bloom, the woman who inspired her and taught her to sew. There she discovers that even in an idyllic beach town, there are women living with the deepest of secrets. Thus begins the Oysterville Sewing Circle—where women can join forces to support each other through the troubles they keep hidden.
Yet just as Caroline regains her creativity and fighting spirit, and the children begin to heal from their loss, an unexpected challenge tests her courage and her heart. This time, though, Caroline is not going to run away. She’s going to stand and fight for everything—and everyone—she loves.
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Susan Wiggs deeply develops characters who are authentic.
Favorite Quotes:
Since she had left home right out of high school, she had dutifully visited a few times at Christmas… That seemed to satisfy the family and also preserved her status as the official black sheep. Every family needed a pet, her brother Jackson used to joke.
I’ve had my heart broken so many times, it’s all scar tissue…
“Turns out my ‘perfect’ husband pulled the oldest trick in the book. He took up with an associate at the law firm, plotted a slick exit, and brought my life to a screeching halt. She’s awful, too— one of those phony Christians who claimed she was ‘saving herself for marriage.’” “I guess you should have asked whose marriage,”
His eyes were as blue as her favorite color of gumball… As a general rule, she didn’t like boys. With two younger brothers, she was well aware of their shortcomings. Boys were noisy, and they smelled like hamsters, and they had an incomprehensible habit of wearing the same dirty shirt day in and day out until someone made them change.
My Review:
This was a slowly evolving, relatable, and thoughtfully written story in which every woman from most any culture will find something that resonates for her. While predominantly fitting the genre of women’s fiction, it could also be considered a second chance and small-town romance. The realistic storylines were easy to follow, highly assessable, relevant, and cast with a wide variety of unique and endearing yet flawed characters. The writing was engaging and easy to follow yet slyly emotive and stung my eye sockets several times. Susan Wiggs has earned a permanent spot on my list of favorite authors.
Loved this book. Did not see the twist coming near the end either.
Very good read
I have read all of susan’s Books. Love all of them!!!!
Wow…this one was at some points a bit boring, then absolutely fabulous! I felt the flashbacks to childhood were a tedious and slow moving. I wanted to skip over them but thought there might be a point to going back over childhood friendships and issues. Then you get closer to the end and realize why you needed all the backstory!
This book deals with so many difficult issues. Domestic Violence, unethical work practices, lost love, divorce, addiction, and choice. These are masterfully worked into the pages where we also find romance, a helping hand, family ties, healing, and justice.
For Caroline, an idyllic childhood opens to a fairy tale opportunity that was lost so quickly. Work, wit, talent, and resilience help Caroline move forward when she feels like she’s a failure.
For Will, his time as a young teen in Oysterville helps him realize what he wants in the future. Injury, loss of first career, and returning to Oysterville works for him, but his wife Sierra sees it as a step backwards.
The Oysterville Sewing Circle is not a romance, but it is. It’s not about sewing, but it is about bringing together discarded pieces to make a whole.
Susan Wiggs is usually an auto buy author for me, but I almost didn’t purchase it because of the cover! I’m so glad I decided to go with my enjoyment of her writing and get it. Not a 5-star read for me because I felt some of it dragged, but a solid 4.5-star read.
Facing multiple challenges in both her career and personal life, Caroline returns to her childhood home in a Pacific Coast small town where she finds a supportive circle of friends, some answers and more challenges, and possible romance.
This excellent novel has wonderful characters, beautiful setting, and a message of solidarity and hope. For readers of Womens Fiction, General Fiction, and Romance.
This novel is a compassionate and telling one about lost love, lost career, and new beginnings woven into a tapestry that includes the ravages on women of spousal abuse. It is uplifting many times, hard at others. Truly a heartfelt novel that is not to be missed.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I loved the Oysterville Sewing Circle, so much so that I convinced my book club to pick it as one or our selections for next year. It’s gpt it all, wonderful characters, insight into the fashion business, facing abuse, romance… You’ll love it!
Any book by this author is wonderful and enjoyable to read!
Loved this book
So glad I read this book. The characters were interesting, the plot moved along, the author did a great job. I highly recommend this one.
A wonderful book! Wouldn’t know it from title but a very deep book about an important topic.
Exceptionally well-written. Deals with issues of interest in problem solving ways.
I enjoyed the story. It was interesting how she wove an abusive relationship into starting a wonderful place for women to get help. Icing was getting her true love.
This is a big disappointment to me. I love Susan Wiggs books and normally find them to be a can’t put down read. This seemed to drag out. Just my opinion
I love all Susan Wiggs books. She has a way to draw you completely into all the characters. I feel as I know them and am sad to leave them at the end of the book!
Well worth reading!
Easy reading
I enjoyed this book because I have been to the actual Oysterville on the Long Beach Peninsula in Washington State many times. That is what drew me to the book. It was a good read.