The Oysterville Sewing Circle By Susan Wiggs (Review by Stephanie Smith)

The latest novel from Susan Wiggs, The Oysterville Sewing Circle  — released today — was a book that as a reader, I didn’t want to stop. Comprised of seven sections, switching back and forth between current time with protagonist Caroline and Caroline’s teenage years, I found the book flowed nicely and made for a quick read – which I finished in three days.

It starts in New York where Caroline is trying to build a design career which is quickly crumbling around her, when she loses her dear friend and becomes guardian of her friends two children, Flick (Francis) and Addie. In an effort to make this work, Caroline and the kids return to Caroline’s home town Oysterville, Washington and move in with her parents. Caroline quickly runs into her first crush Will (who is also her best friend’s husband). Despite returning home to a town she couldn’t wait to escape, Caroline realize that the unexpected circumstances may truly mean her dreams will come true.

I really enjoyed this book and would give it a 4.8/5. It was enjoyable and as a reader you felt connected to the characters. This would make a good quick weekend read or a vacation read. It was typical boy-meets-girl and after a struggle they fall in love. However, there was more to this story. I enjoyed that while the romance was there it was secondary to the story of the kids and Caroline’s career. I think by doing this the author took a new twist on a romance and gave the story more depth and less fluff.

I enjoyed that this story went back and forth between the present and Caroline/Will’s youth. While sometimes this can be confusing to a reader, it was done well in this book. The author broke this book into seven parts with each part having multiple chapters. By doing this, it allowed the reader to easily see when the time was changing and we were able to spend a few chapters in each time period versus quick frequent back and forth.

Overall I liked this story and would highly recommend it to anyone who loves a feel good read and would make for great discussion at a book club. I have not read Susan Wiggs before, so I am unable to compare it to her other stories but I am looking forward to checking them out.