A Heart for the Dropped Stitches

Reviewed by VincePlato on July 8th, 2008, 2:54pm

by Janet Tronstad

Format: Print Books

Series: Steeple Hill Cafe

Book  Eighty-Six:  “A Heart for the Dropped Stitches”,  Janet Tronstad,    Love Inspired, Steeple Hill,  Café  Edition, July,  c 2008 , Larger Print, 275 pages   

“A Heart for the Dropped Stitches”,  is number three in the “Sisterhood of the Dropped Stitches” Series. Here are the current books. 

• The Sisterhood of the Dropped Stitches, #385
• A Dropped Stitches Christmas, #423
• A Heart for the Dropped Stitches, #451 

 5 Stars if you’ve read the first Two Books

– 4 to 41/2  Stars As a Stand Alone Book   

       The books that will eventually comprise the “Sisterhood of the Dropped Stitches” Series will certainly be greater than the sum of its parts. With each book the reader becomes more emotionally involved with the characters’ lives.  As such, this is a series that is best read in order. The first book,“The Sisterhood of the Dropped Stitches” is one of the best books I’ve read in the last ten years.  “A Dropped Stitches Christmas” was my pick as Best Book read in 2007. “A Heart for the Dropped Stitches” is an excellent continuation of the series – but if you only read this book, you will miss the full emotional impact that make this Series a 5-star reading experience.

                  Rebecca – the “Tin Man”  

      The “heart” in “A Heart for the Dropped Stitches” is for Becca who considers herself the “Tin Man” – the sister without a heart. She feels this way because she will not show emotion or cry. This is not because she cannot cry, as the other sisters may think, but because if she starts crying she thinks she will not be able to stop. Rebecca wants to become a lawyer and will start law school when the summer is over. She was put into foster care by her mother and kept getting sent back by family after family until she was adopted at six years old. The entire time she was growing up she expected to be sent back by her adopted parents. Her adopted parents are a loving middle class couple who gave her everything and truly love her. However, Becca thinks she was not really the little princess her parents wanted. She believes she has been a disappointment to them. This creates a very emotional situation when Becca tries to work up the courage and find the right situation to thank her  parents for adopteding her.

                     The Sisterhood Series is Unique   

      The “Sisterhood” series is unique. As a Steeple Hill Café edition these first three books are not typical romances. The books are more women’s fiction or, as far as I concerned, mainstream literature. The books do not end in marriage or even an engagement.  I’m not sure at this point that one could say that there is even an expectation of a marriage. At best, the POV character acquires a boyfriend by the end of each book. It is not the hero/heroine romance that makes the “Sisterhood” books special, rather it is the sisters’ “romance with life” and their love for each other that makes the books a joy to read.  

             The “Sisterhood” is about Friendship 

       The “Sisterhood” came about when all four of the young women were undergoing cancer treatment. Each had a different form of cancer. Their therapist, Rose, wanted their therapy not to seem like therapy. So she had them form a knitting group. The “Sisterhood” books are a story of friendships and much more. These young women didn’t have an adolescence. They did not date or go to proms.  Lacking normal “coming of age” experiences and suffering from both the physical and emotional scars of cancer, they see finding romance as a far off dream. Just having a date is a very big deal in their lives.  

          Reading the “Sisterhood” in Order 

         Of all the series I’ve read, the Sisterhood is the most important to read in order. The beauty and richness is in the growing friendship and the delayed coming of age of the characters. These are quiet books that win your heart a page at a time. Moreover, the “Sisterhood”  books are extra intimate because of the author’s unique writing technique. The books are written in a multiple first person point of view. The lead character (or POV character) narrates the story in the first person. The sisters, however, also write their thoughts in a group journal. This lets each of the sisters speak in the first person.  

         The fact that the reader is reading a private journal makes the emotional impact of the story even more compelling. Add to this the fact that sometimes the sisters write entries in the journal that are too intimate to share with the other sisters. In these cases they seal those pages from the other sisters. The reader, of course, gets to read everything, thus making the reader more privileged then any of the characters. Again, this enhances the intimacy of the reading experience like few books I've ever read.  

           How Many More Sisterhood Books Are to Come?

        I expect there to be at least one more book with the last and youngest sister, Lizbett, as the POV character. It is possible, however, that there could be at least two more books. One book about the mystery group leader, Rose. (She had an insipient romance develop in “A Heart for the Dropped Stitches:   Also, the Journal the sisters have been writing for years would make a an interesting book in and of itself. (I can just imagine the Journal being a best seller and the sisters having to make a nation book signing tour.)              

 One Day 

     One day in the future, I would like to see all of the Sisterhood  books  compiled into one hardbound edition. These works would make fine reading for cancer patients – especially adolescent girls and their parents.  Heath professionals have told me (I’ve had too many friends and relative with cancer) that there are just not enough good books they can specifically recommend to cancer patients. The “Sisterhood” series seems ideally suited for teenage patients who may be missing out on many of the  “growing up” experiences that shape our adult lives. I really feel privileged to be reading these books in real time as they are published.

               Will We  See the “Mother of all HEAs”? 

         Given that each of the Sisterhood books, so far, ends with just the acquisition of a boyfriend, the stage is set for the “mother of all HEA’s” in the final book. I don’t know if what I think is going to happen actually will happen, but if it does, there are a few scientists at Cal Tech who are going to think the “Big One” has hit until they determine the epicenter is at a place called Steeple Hill. (I just had to bring in a Pasadena reference. I am a PCC grad.)  I recommend everyone start with the first book now and work towards the finale when the last book is released! 

         Still Time to Join the “Sisterhood” Express!

Thanks,

Vince

“Romances are the emotional vitamins of the soul.” Vince