Book Review: The Threadbare Heart by Jennie Nash

The Threadbare Heart is the first book that I've read by Jennie Nash and it definitely won't be the last. Nash has a beautiful style of writing and The Threadbare Heart explores so many topics of the heart, it deeply touched my own heart. This is a story of family, of mothers and daughters, sons, marriage, friendship, loss, growth and so much more.

 

Lily and Tom have been happily and contentedly married for over 25 years. They live in Vermont and are both professors at a local college. They have two grown sons and a granddaughter who all live in California as well as Lily's mother Eleanor. Things start to change as Lily and Tom prepare for a visit to California to visit family for Christmas. They both are starting to question where they want their lives to go as they are getting older. In California, Tom is drawn to an avocado farm there and dreams of owning it. Lily's mother Eleanor offers to buy it for them and this stirs up unsettled issues for Lily. Eleanor has been married many times and is envious of the relationship that Lily has with Tom. Lily loves her mother but believes that she is so different from her that it keeps them at a distance. It takes a terrible tragedy for them to learn to understand each other and respect their differences. They realize that being different is okay and that they can still love each other and appreciate each others differences.

I don't want to share too much more of this wonderful story as it will give too much away. You must find a copy yourself and read it, but don't read the back of the book as it will give away too much of the story. This is the kind of book that you shouldn't know what will happen as it is part of the experience of the book.

The Threadbare Heart is about relationships that most of us experience or will experience in life- parent and child, husband and wife and friendships. It will make you stop and think about your own relationships, it certainly did for me. You can be in a marriage or a friendship for many years and do you really know them? This book brings up this question along with many others. What happens when things can change so quickly in your life? How will you handle it? The message of not taking life for granted and cherishing each day you have is one that I thought of a lot as I was reading this book. This book is written with sensitivity and depth and it is one that would make a  great book to discuss with others and especially with a book club.

Disclosure: Thanks to the author for sending me a review copy of this book. I am an Amazon associate and Indiebound associate.