Tapestry of Fortunes

by Elizabeth Berg

If you go into a bookstore today you will see this beautiful cover on display.  At some point when I was reading this book, I stopped and thought what I would write about this book when I reviewed it.  That day was dreary outside, but inside my house and inside my soul there was warmth.  I felt like I often do when I sit outside on a beautiful, warm spring day - I read for  awhile and stop periodically to appreciate the beautiful flowers, the smell of spring, and the soft breeze.  When I closed the book and looked at the cover and I thought, "That cover sums up what I'm feeling."  There's a feeling of gentleness, taking time to sip a herbal tea, and enjoying the natural flow of days, and life.

Tapestry of Fortunes came at a good time for me.  It brightened up my days and made me feel lighter.  There's nothing earth-shattering or remarkable about it's story, only the learning to accept life, to listen to your inner voice and do what it suggests or urges.  I groaned when I read the first couple pages and learned the main character was a motivational speaker.  She even shared some of the advise she passed onto others.  My early thoughts, "Oh, good grief!  This is not what I need - advise on becoming a better me."  I was in a grumbly, heaving mood and I didn't want to be told to snap out of it.

I kept reading and soon the advise stopped and the gentle caressing started.  When I finished the book I didn't want to change anything about myself or my life, I just wanted to be more of aware of the good things around me.

Tapestry of Fortunes is a story about friendships - old and new and renewed.  Here's the write-up from the cover flap:

Cecilia Ross is a motivational speaker who encourages others to change their lives for the better. Why can’t she take her own advice? Still reeling from the death of her best friend, and freshly aware of the need to live more fully now, Cece realizes that she has to make a move—all the portentous signs seem to point in that direction. She downsizes her life, sells her suburban Minnesota home and lets go of many of her possessions. She moves into a beautiful old house in Saint Paul, complete with a garden, chef’s kitchen, and three housemates: Lise, the home’s owner and a divorced mother at odds with her twenty-year-old daughter; Joni, a top-notch sous chef at a first-rate restaurant with a grade A jerk of a boss; and Renie, the youngest and most mercurial of the group, who is trying to rectify a teenage mistake. These women embark on a journey together in an attempt to connect with parts of themselves long denied. For Cece, that means finding Dennis Halsinger. Despite being “the one who got away,” Dennis has never been far from Cece’s thoughts.

I received a copy of Tapestry of Fortunes from Random House in exchange for an honest review.