APART AT THE SEAMS is the newest book by Marie Bostwick.
It's part of her long running Cobbled Court Quilts series.
(If you're new to Ms. Bostwick's books don't worry you can
read this and not feel lost at all). If you're like me
you're married and facing an empty nest, and wondering what
this new phase in your marriage will hold. Gayla Oliver,
the main character in APART AT THE SEAMS is in this phase of
her life. Her twins are gone and establishing careers and
lives without Gayla and her husband Brian.
Gayla thinks things are going along quite smoothly until one
day while attempting to multitask she accidentally opens a
file on the computer she shares with Brian, and finds a note
he wrote to her, but never sent. The note she finds tells
her that Brian is not only unhappy in the marriage but he
had an affair that is over, but he wants out.
Gayla of course is stunned and angry, and automatically
reacts. She's not sure what the next step is, but know she
needs to distance herself from Brian while she figures it
out. She runs to their cottage in New Bern. A place Brian
suggested they buy for weekend get aways, but as life has
intruded and work pressures have built for both the place
has been neglected, and Gayla turns her destructive anger
into constructive anger in sprucing up the house and
becoming a part of the New Bern community.
Those of us who have followed the series for a while know
that the ladies of the Cobbled Court Quilt Shop have nothing
but the best interests of their neighbors and community in
mind. With this knowledge we know that when they welcome
Gayle into their inner circle she is bound to come to
conclusions that will be hard won and regardless of what the
outcome of her marriage might be they will make Gayla a
better stronger person.
I believe that it takes a special insight to take a group of
women and continue to make them loving, caring, adaptable
characters that readers will love forward to revisiting time
and time again. Ms. Bostwick has this insight, and makes
the characters she writes about into people you can only
hope to run into, and are disappointed when you don't! As
I said at the beginning of this review this is a series you
can truly jump into in the middle and not feel lost at all.
APART AT THE SEAMS is a book that will have you reflecting
on your life and being grateful for the bumps and bruises
you've surely suffered along the way, because as Gayla finds
out what doesn't break you makes you stronger, and we all
know that those who read romance are strong people be they
women or men.
New York Times bestselling author Marie Bostwick
welcomes readers back to picturesque New Bern,
Connecticut--a perfect place for a woman whose marriage is
in turmoil to discover a new pattern for living. . .
Twice in her life, college counselor Gayla Oliver fell in
love at first sight. The first time was with Brian--a lean,
longhaired, British bass player. Marriage followed quickly,
then twins, and gradually their bohemian lifestyle gave way
to busy careers in New York. Gayla's second love affair is
with New Bern, Connecticut. Like Brian, the laid back town
is charming without trying too hard. It's the ideal place to
buy a second home and reignite the spark in their twenty-six
year marriage. Not that Gayla is worried. At least, not
until she finds a discarded memo in which Brian admits to a
past affair and suggests an amicable divorce.
Devastated, Gayla flees to New Bern. Though Brian insists
he's since recommitted to his family, Gayla's feelings of
betrayal may go too deep for forgiveness. Besides, her solo
sabbatical is a chance to explore the creative impulses she
sidelined long ago--quilting, gardening, and striking up new
friendships with the women of the Cobbled Court
circle--particularly Ivy, a single mother confronting fresh
starts and past hurts of her own. With all of their support,
Gayla just might find the courage to look ahead, decide
which fragments of her old life she wants to keep, which are
beyond repair--and how to knot the fraying ends until a bold
new design reveals itself. . .
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