Wedding Ring

WEDDING RING is the first book in the Shenandoah Album series. It's also the first book that I've read by Emilie Richards. Since I don't live too far from the Shenandoah Valley, I was attracted to this story because it features an area that is familiar to me. I wasn't disappointed; this is a well-written and captivating story. The book centers on three women. Tessa who is thirty-seven, her mother Nancy and her grandmother, Helen. The women don't really seem to care much about each other and have little in common. Helen lives alone in Tom's Brook and when Nancy, who lives in Richmond is called by neighbors and told that her mother needs help, she and Tessa feel the obligation to visit and possibly make arrangements to put Helen in a home for seniors. They knew that Helen was a saver, but what they find is a house stuffed to the gills with magazines, unread newspapers, empty bottles, boxes of old paperwork and items that nobody could possible want. Helen who had been a superb housekeeper, is now living in a big mess, but insists that she needs it all. They also find dozens and dozens of beautiful quilts that Helen had been making for years. Tessa and Nancy feel compelled to spend their summer cleaning out the old farmhouse and possibly preparing it for sale. They each have their own personal problems, but they grudgingly work together and mostly argue. As the weeks go by they began to talk and relate the stories of their personal lives that they had never shared with each other before, and it all starts with the story of an old wedding ring quilt. The characters that Emilie Richards creates are so real that I know I've met some of these people in my own life.

I'll be honest - I only bought this book because I was at a quilt show and I could get a free quilting instruction book if I bought this book and another instruction book. The author was signing books and there was a lull so I chatted with her briefly about the emotional response I'd had to some of the quilts at the show. I bought my books, had them signed, thanked her, and went home. I expected a pleasant little read, a nice way to pass some time. Then I read the book. "Wow" does not do it justice. Boiled down into the simplest terms, the book is about family. A mother, daughter and granddaughter have the opportunity to learn about each other as people, rather than just "mother", "daughter", etc. Quilts are a large part of the story but they only add to it for those of us who are interested in quilting. They do not detract from the story for non-quilters. This is a very emotional book - I read it in one sitting, until 1:00 in the morning. I cried through much of it. The next morning I woke up with swollen eyes, and passed the book on to my mother. I've already purchased the next book in the series, and I can't wait for it to arrive.

This is definitely one of my favorite reads this summer! I have read just about all of Richards' books and was thrilled to find this one in my collection! This is a book about three different women ~~ who happened to be related to each other. There is Tessa, who is suffering from her daughter's death three years prior, Nancy, Tessa's mom, who has her own regrets and secrets and Helen, Nancy's mom and Tessa's grandma, who is filled with her own regrets over life. At the beginning of the book, the three come together to clean up the old farm house that has belonged in Helen's family for years ~~ disgruntled and unhappy with one another and with being there. As the book progresses, each of the women come to face to face with their own demons and broken dreams ~~ and finding solace with one another as they never have before. They share their dreams and stories over a quilt that Helen had started to make for her wedding bed, only to end up on Tessa's bed in childhood after Nancy finished it. If you're a mother, grandmother, daughter ~~ this book will speak to your heart like very few books do! The quilts in this book are so wonderfully described and your fingers ache to make quilts of your own. It is an appealing book that speaks of relationships among women that only women can understand. This is a book of broken hearts and dreams and finding the joy that only those who have suffered can understand. It's a wonderful inspiring little book ~~ and it reminds me why I really enjoy reading Emilie Richards' books. She's an author that knows how to reach her reader's heart. 7-14-05

This is the first of Ms Richards's books I have read. I am certainly going to read more. Her characterization and plotting are superb. She uses believable dialogue, thoughts and humor as well as understanding the interactions of men and women and women and women together. I especially enjoyed the element of quilts and quilting tying the storyline together. Her writing style is mature and educated without being overblown or full of itself. Thank you Emilie!

Thirty-seven years old Tessa MacRae and her sixty-year-old mom Nancy Whitlock are worried about the latter's octogenarian mother Helen, who has neglected her Tom Brooks, Virginia house. The home is dangerously cluttered with junk as Nancy realizes she has not been allowed inside since her five-year-old granddaughter was killed by a drunk driver three years ago, the pivotal moment that left three surviving generations shattered.Tessa's husband Mack attends Compassionate Friends to help him cope with his grief. Tessa is an active member of MADD, but has done nothing to truly deal with her loss of their daughter. Mack feels cut off from his wife who he loves dearly, but needs love and is considering an affair.Nancy's husband Billy visits, but she worries that though they have been married for decades he will see her farm roots and leave her. Nancy loves Billy, but feels a need to defend her birth home and her mom before going upstairs to cry. Billy leaves without saying goodbye.As the three women clean out the house over the summer and allow a pregnant teen to join them, will they find solace in their memories or continue the spin into the abyss?The entire cast is as powerful as they come as every key member (even Helen's long deceased husband) is incredibly developed. The relationships between the characters are fantastic because even the negativity seems genuine. The use of quilting enables the past to surface interwoven with the current woes. Though the amount of angst (each one of the three lead females deals with enough problems to cover a book by herself) overwhelms, Emilie Richards paints a wonderfully insightful family drama.Harriet Klausner