A Tapestry of Secrets

Now in her eighties, Perla Phillips has carried a secret since she was eighteen years old. When she sees her granddaughter, Ella, struggling for perfection, she decides to share her secret to show that God can use even the biggest mistakes for good. But before she can reveal what happened during that summer sixty years ago, she has a debilitating stroke. 

Carrying a secret of her own, Ella arrives back in Wise, West Virginia, to help her Aunt Sadie care for Perla. Both know the woman wanted to tell them something, but she's now locked in silence. Together they begin looking into the past, but they may learn more than they expected. 

Will they have the courage to share their hearts? Or will the truth remain buried forever? (from Amazon.com description)

There were a lot of things I liked about this book. I think the dual stories of the grandmother and granddaughter were what originally drew me to this book, and the relationship between them didn't disappoint. They were very cute together. 

I also loved a lot of the settings of the book. A Tapestry of Secrets describes the beautiful West Virginian countryside very well. Ms. Thomas also drew me in with her descriptions of Ella's quilts, and the other interior design aspects of the book. I think anyone at all crafty or artistic would like the fact that Ella is an artist. I appreciated that Ms. Thomas actually described the art, rather than just alluding to it. 

So most of my enjoyment of A Tapestry of Secrets came from the settings. I did not enjoy either of the main characters, although their relationship with each other was sweet. I found both Ella and Perla to be surprisingly immature; I was especially surprised at such immature behavior in Perla, an elderly Christian lady. The lack of maturity in both their lives surprised and annoyed me. Who wants to have to read about an immature, selfish main character? I'm not saying either Ella or Perla were terrible, but there were very few times I could relate to Ella, and even fewer when I liked her. There was growth in Ella's life, but I had to deal with her obnoxious behavior for most of the book.

I also found A Tapestry of Secrets to be lacking as a romance. The romance was developed very little; it didn't seem to be the main theme of the book. I'm fine with that, but it was a little odd. Considering it was supposed to be a romance novel, I wish I'd gotten to know the male lead a bit better. 

I have pretty mixed feelings about this book. I think the setting was cute, and the writing quality was nice, but I did not enjoy the characters or the main conflicts the writer chose. I wish I'd liked the main characters (especially Ella) more, and I wish the romance had been more developed. I have to say, I was a little disappointed when I finished the book. You might enjoy this for the artistic and rustic elements, but if you're looking for a solid romance, I wouldn't recommend this one. 

*I received a free copy of this book in order to review it.