I bought this based on a recommendation by Cornflower and I bought it from here (I love the free-shipping). I did struggle a bit to get it finished and I wasn’t that taken with the romance thread of this story. I did like the idea of moving to France and starting a needlework business.
Here’s the blurb …
A rural idyll: that’s what Catherine is seeking when she sells her house in England and movies to a tiny hamlet in the Cevennes mountains. With her divorce in the past and her children grown, she is free ti make a new start, and to set up business as a seamstress. But this is a harsh and lonely place when you’re no longer here on holiday. There is French bureaucracy to contend with, not to mention the mountain weather, and the reserve of her neighbours, including the intriguing Patrick Castagnol. And that’s before the arrival of Catherine’s sister Bryony …
Despite finding this novel hard-going, the characters were well-written – very realistic. I loved the description of life in a small french community. It was quite unglamourous; it rained a lot in Autumn, it was hot, the French bureaucracy was complicated and circular. I guess my main issue is that I didn’t like Patrick. I didn’t find him attractive or mysterious. I didn’t care if he and Catherine managed to get together by the end of the novel or not – in fact I rather hoped not.
Having said that I think many people would enjoy reading this novel – the parent child dynamic is particularly well done (Catherine and her feelings for her mother and Catherine and her own children).
Here are some other reviews …
http://www.cornflowerbooks.co.uk/2010/07/the-boars-and-the-bees.html
http://www.birdsontheblog.co.uk/tapestry-of-love-by-rosy-thornton-a-birds-book-review/
http://bookgazing.blogspot.com/2010/10/tapestry-of-love-rosy-thornton.html