The Threadbare Heart by Jennie Nash (Book Review)

Title: The Threadbare Heart
Author: Jennie Nash
Publisher: Berkley Trade Paperback

My synopsis: Lily had met her husband Tom in Colorado.  Together they raised 2 sons, Ryan and Luke in Maine, and seemed to weather all the changes that the seasons of life brought them.  Upon visiting their family in California - Luke, Ryan and his wife Olivia and daughter Brooke, and Lily's mother Eleanor, Lily starts to see chinks in her marriage.  She begins to think she doesn't know her husband at all.  When an avocado ranch goes on the market, and Eleanor offers to buy it for Lily and Tom, Lily is resentful that her mom would think they could just up and move from Maine to California.  Especially since they were both so close to earning their full pensions at the university where they worked - their house was paid for - how could they just up and move all the way across the country?  In the end, Lily decides that she wants to do this for her husband, for them, because she thinks she is losing him and this will hold them together.

My thoughts:  I could go on and on with the synopsis, but I don't want to give too much away.  The story vacillates with each chapter upon different people in the family - Tom, Lily, Eleanor, Luke, Ryan, Olivia.  With each chapter you learn a little more about their individual history, and a little more about how and why they relate to each other as they do. I really enjoyed the way it was written and could relate to Lily - not necessarily because of length or stability of her marriage, but because of her insecurities.  I enjoyed Eleanor also - she seemed to be a strong woman, a little uncharacteristic for women of her generation - used to taking care of herself and not letting anyone "inside".  She had numerous husbands over the years and, since her last one, has "sworn off men". Olivia I didn't like so much - she seemed to do things to exclude her husband from her and Brooke on purpose, and wasn't very thankful the blessings she had in her life. The ending left me wanting more - I wanted to know what happens between Eleanor and Lily - if they are able to get closer. About Ryan and Olivia and if their marriage is going to withstand it's trials.  We know that Lily is a survivor, but I want to know if she gets to be happy again!

~I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my unbiased review.~

The Threadbare Heart
Publisher/Publication Date: Berkley Trade, 5/4/10
ISBN: 978-0-425-23410-5
336 pages

The Friday 56: 5-7-2010

Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
*Post a link along with your post back to Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Lily and Tom always repeated that part of the story, when they told it, time after time -- Can you imagine it? A bright magenta river?  Their friends would comment on the tablecloth, and Lily and Tom would talk about finding it in Lyon, which was really a story about how they found each other, how they committed to each other, and how they shared a love that sustained them. (p56, The Threadbare Heart by Jennie Nash - uncorrected proof)

The Threadbare Heart
Publisher/Publication Date: Berkley Trade, May 4, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-425-23410-5
336 pages

Writing Contest with Jennie Nash - author of The Threadbare Heart

Come one! Come all!  Enter a Mother's Day writing contest!  Jennie Nash is sponsoring a writing contest across the blogosphere and has asked me to be one of the host blogs!  I am very honored! 

Jennie says:

The Threadbare Heart is a story about a mother and a daughter torn apart by grief, jealousy and misunderstanding — and the family heirloom that finally brings them together. To celebrate its publication, and in honor of Mother’s Day, I’m running a ―Favorite Fictional Mother & Daughter contest with some fantastic bloggers.  We want to know which fictional mother-daughter pair made you laugh? Made you cry? Made you cringe? Which pair revealed something true about your own mother-daughter relationships? (And yes, mothers and daughters in film are eligible. Fiction is fiction, right?)

So grab a cup of coffee and let's get writing! 

How to enter:
1. Send to me, by Saturday, May 8 at 6pm CST, 250 words telling me about your favorite fictional mother-daughter pair. You can email me your entries - kherbrand at comcast dot net. But you can only enter on one blog - (pick me - pick me!)

2. On Mother's Day I will post the one that I like the best and that winner will receive an autographed copy of The Threadbare Heart and will be entered in the Grand Prize Drawing.  How will I choose?  Like Jennie, I will pick the one that seems heartfelt and true.  Like she says above though - this duo could be the one that made you cringe as well as the one that made you cry.  I am looking forward to seeing everyone's favorite!

3. On May 16, Jennie will choose a Grand Prize Winner from all the winning blog entries. (How will she choose? Whichever entry hits her as being heartfelt and true). The Grand Prize Winner will be announced on all the participating blogs, on Jennie's website and on twitter.


What You Can Win:

The Grand Prize winner will receive a ―Book Club in a Box — ten signed copies of The Threadbare Heart, a call-in from the author, and a delicious rum cake to share with your book-reading friends. (Why rum cake? You’ll have to read the book to understand! I’ve picked out a cake by a baker named Kelli because she started selling rum cakes when she lost her baking buddy to cancer and I loved her story - and I happen to think that good stories are a big part of a good life.) Happy Mother’s Day! - Jennie Nash





Visit Jennie's blog - Meet Your Muse - to read the first chapter of The Threadbare Heart.

The Threadbare Heart
Publisher/Publication Date: Berkley Trade, May 4, 2010
ISBN:  978-0425234105
336 pages