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A review by alliepeduto
The Oysterville Sewing Circle by Susan Wiggs
3.0
I had such high hopes for this book! This was my first Susan Wiggs novel, and considering how beloved she is I figured I would love this, but it really missed the mark for me. I will say before anything else that the message here regarding domestic abuse and the importance of speaking out is absolute crucial, and my opinion of the book in no way reflects how I feel about these issues. We all need to support each other and believe women, especially those who have survived such terrible situations as displayed in this novel.
With that disclaimer out of the way though, I just didn’t enjoy this. The characters felt so flat, and while the stories of some of the women were absolutely tragic, the author didn’t flesh out the people behind the stories. Also, the timeline was too disjointed. The sections kept jumping between the old romance with Will and Caroline’s life in NY, and present day. And I did not understand the friendship between Angelique and Caroline, which was the whole catalyst for the novel. When the emotions aren’t believable, all the characters’ actions come off as confusing. I’m a big believer in show not tell when it comes to writing, and I feel like I was told things for 370 pages.
This seems harsh, especially because this book tries to tackle some really important issues. While I think those issues were handled with respect, it just wasn’t a good story. At the end of the day, I want to be swept away and moved by a beautiful story, and this just wasn’t the book to do it for me.
With that disclaimer out of the way though, I just didn’t enjoy this. The characters felt so flat, and while the stories of some of the women were absolutely tragic, the author didn’t flesh out the people behind the stories. Also, the timeline was too disjointed. The sections kept jumping between the old romance with Will and Caroline’s life in NY, and present day. And I did not understand the friendship between Angelique and Caroline, which was the whole catalyst for the novel. When the emotions aren’t believable, all the characters’ actions come off as confusing. I’m a big believer in show not tell when it comes to writing, and I feel like I was told things for 370 pages.
This seems harsh, especially because this book tries to tackle some really important issues. While I think those issues were handled with respect, it just wasn’t a good story. At the end of the day, I want to be swept away and moved by a beautiful story, and this just wasn’t the book to do it for me.