Fiction: Tapestry of Love by Rosy Thornton

Disillusioned with her (arguably perfect) life, forty-something Catherine Parkstone swaps her life in England to move to a remote village in the Cévennes Mountains in France in order to start a business as a seamstress and maker of tapestries.

Though the title threatens to give some of the plot away, Catherine doesn’t find her life in the French countryside quite as idyllic as such a life might sound. For one thing, once she moves, it becomes her real world, not just a holiday, and Catherine finds herself dealing with French burecrats, snooty neighbors. And just as she finds herself in a budding relationship with one of her more interesting neighbors, Catherine’s sister turns up and pushes a fly into the ointment.

Tapestry of Love (Headline Review) is a sweet, uncomplicated book, beyond the complications necessary to provide just the right amount of frisson necessary to an interesting read. We’re months away from beach reads, but this would be a good book for that sort of endeavor. In her fourth novel, Rosy Thornton eases us into an easy, graceful journey of transition and change. A 21st century Aga saga. And we don’t mind one bit. ◊

Monica Stark is a contributing editor to January Magazine. She currently makes her home on a liveaboard boat somewhere in the North Pacific.