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The Affliction

(Maggie Detweiler and Hope Babbin #2)

Beth Gutcheon (Goodreads Author)

3.24 · Rating details · 413 ratings · 108 reviews

The New York Times bestselling author of More Than You Know, Leeway Cottage, and Death at Breakfast delivers the second installment in her clever romp of a mystery series combining social comedy and dark-hearted murder a novel set at a girls’ boarding school in a picturesque Hudson River town with more than its share of secrets

Since retiring as head of a famous New York Ci The New York Times bestselling author of More Than You Know, Leeway Cottage, and Death at Breakfast delivers the second installment in her clever romp of a mystery series combining social comedy and dark-hearted murder a novel set at a girls’ boarding school in a picturesque Hudson River town with more than its share of secrets

Since retiring as head of a famous New York City private school, Maggie Detweiler is busier than ever. Chairing a team to evaluate the faltering Rye Manor School for girls, she will determine whether, in spite of its fabled past, the school has a future at all. With so much on the line for so many, tensions on campus are at an excruciating pitch, and Maggie expects to be as welcome as a case of Ebola virus.

At a reception for the faculty and trustees to “welcome” Maggie’s team, no one seems more keen for all to go well than Florence Meagher, a star teacher who is loved and respected in spite of her affliction—that she can never stop talking.

Florence is one of those dedicated teachers for whom the school is her life, and yet the next morning, when Maggie arrives to observe her teaching, Florence is missing. Florence’s husband, Ray, an auxiliary policeman in the village, seems more annoyed than alarmed at her disappearance. But Florence’s sister is distraught. There have been tensions in the marriage, and at their last visit, Florence had warned, “If anything happens to me, don’t assume it’s an accident.”

Two days later, Florence’s body is found in the campus swimming pool.

Maggie is asked to stay on to coach the very young and inexperienced head of Rye Manor through the crisis. Maggie obviously knows schools, but she also knows something about investigating murder, having solved a mysterious death in Maine the previous year when the police went after the wrong suspect. She is soon joined by her madcap socialite friend Hope, who is jonesing for an excuse to ditch her book club anyway, before she has to actually read Silas Marner.

What on earth is going on in this idyllic town? Is this a run-of-the-mill marital murder? Or does it have something to do with the school board treasurer’s real estate schemes? And what is up with the vicious cyber-bullying that’s unsettled everyone, or with the disturbed teenaged boy whom Florence had made a pet of? And is it possible that someone killed Florence just so she’d finally shut up? ...more

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Hardcover, 368 pages

Published March 13th 2018 by William Morrow

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Average rating 3.24 ·

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· 413 ratings · 108 reviews

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Mar 20, 2018 Margit rated it did not like it

Shelves: first-reads

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book in exchange for a review.

This is what passes for a murder mystery in the 1% crowd where even the police are happy to have their jobs done for them by wealthy women who have nothing better to do. Although we're meant to assume who the murderer is and what the motive was, we're never actually given any closure on that point.

Mindless, uninspiring read. ...more

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Dec 31, 2017 Amber S rated it liked it

Shelves: first-reads

There were a lot of minor characters who I had a hard time keeping straight. There were parts of the story and characters that would have been great to have more information/background on, while there were others whose importance I never understood. It was an okay read, but I didn’t find the page turning suspense I was hoping for, and the ending left a little something to be desired.

I received an advanced copy through a Goodreads giveaway.

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Aug 03, 2017 Jessica Woodbury rated it really liked it

Shelves: crime-mystery, arc-provided-by-publisher

3.5 stars, rounded up. This was a solid follow up to the first book in this series, DEATH AT BREAKFAST. Maggie and Hope are back and we get to know them even better, and I think I even liked this one a little bit more. It's cozy without feeling cozy (I tend to prefer darker and grittier stuff and read very little cozy but I enjoy these). The cover doesn't feel like the right fit at all (even though girls and pools play a role in the plot), this is the kind of mystery you can read with your mom.

T ...more

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May 12, 2018 Barb rated it liked it

There are two afflictions here. The first being the affliction a character in the book suffers from, the second being an author who may have attained the record for most loose ends not tied up at the end of a book. Not a bad book, but don't expect to have your questions answered. ...more

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Apr 29, 2020 Mary Robinson rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites, fun, mystery-thriller

This was a fun read for me – similar to an Agatha Christie cozy mystery – but with a modern-day sensibility. The setting is cozy – an upper-crust private school for girls – and the two amateur detectives – a retired school head and her carefree socialite friend- were pretty typical too. The fun for me was watching them be so funny and smart and sarcastic together, even though their being allowed to stick their noses into crime-solving a murder was not very realistic. As someone who loves book co ...more

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Feb 19, 2018 Stephanie rated it it was ok

Shelves: edelweiss, mystery, earc-copies

Rounded up to 2.5 Stars

It had its okay moments, but there were way too many distractions from the plot. I liked Maggie and Hope and the Agatha Christie vibe they gave, but the minor characters were more annoying than anything. I had the whodunit figured out within the first few chapters and originally DNFd the book at 48% out of boredom. I picked it up again because I REALLY wanted the book to get better, and I REALLY liked Maggie and Hope. Yet the story never really picked up steam. Gutcheon is ...more

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Jun 30, 2018 Anissa rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: cozy mystery and generally mystery fans

Shelves: series, 2018, cozy-mystery

This was a solid three star read for me until the last five chapters, which pushed it up to a four for me and I am already looking forward to another mystery with Maggie and Hope.

This time the setting is a private school for girls that have Maggie in to evaluate their future viability. As this is the worst time for the murder of a faculty member, it happens and Maggie is drawn into the investigation with Hope glad to join in (she's looking to flee the responsibilities of her book club & Silas Ma ...more

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Mar 23, 2018 Joyce rated it liked it

In this book Maggie Detweiler and her friend Hope try to solve the murder
of Florence Meagher a teacher at a girls school. Maggie was sent to the
school to evaluate it and its future, when Florence is gone missing and
found dead in the pool. There are a lot of characters and a lot of secrets.
The story contains dark intrigue and social comedy and an unsatisfactory
ending. It was an ok book, but not one that I really enjoyed or would
remember.

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Feb 17, 2020 Helen rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, modern-mystery

This read like an Agatha Christie with real people instead of cardboard cutouts. Perhaps I say that because the chief characters have almost unlimited money to which they hang pretty loose and their children also seem to have quite a lot. If traveling by train you have a private room (of course!) and take your own food (how? in a picnic hamper the way the immigrants used to?) They stay at their clubs in New York and are members and/or are on the boards of all the museums, theatres and even the p ...more

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Mar 23, 2018 Mridula Gupta rated it liked it

|3 stars|

A terrific murder mystery with some interesting and well written characters.

I haven't read the first book in the series hence, it took me a while to figure out the characters and the author's storytelling. 2 self-declared detectives trying to solve a murder mystery beautifully wrapped up with a lot of boarding school drama and mysteries. Maggie and Hope, two kickass women, are back together after a tiff and ready to kick asses.

I particularly loved how specific the author was with her ch ...more

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Oct 01, 2020 Jennifer N rated it it was ok

I do not recommend this. It had an interesting premise. A consultant was brought in to evaluate a private boarding school. While she is there a murder happens. It turns out the consultant and her friend solved a previous murder so they decide to "help out". The school and the police allow them to be a huge part of the investigation which is not realistic. Then there were so many characters that it was hard to keep them straight as we had so little information. At the end it is clear who the murd ...more

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May 15, 2018 PennsyLady (Bev) marked it as ptb

Shelves: mystery, book-group, series

Pulled the bookmark (PTB)
Did not finish (DNF)

This is a May F2F book group selection.
As a reflection of the time or lack there of this will be put aside 'til a later time. ...more

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Sep 27, 2018 Nic rated it really liked it

I like the writing on this one, but I'm kind of torn as far as how many stars I really want to give it. I'm going with four because of how much I enjoyed reading it as a cozy mystery, but I'm not sure how I feel about the ending.

Random note before I get into the spoilers: a friend pointed out that the cover definitely does not say "cozy mystery." I agree! It looks more like a Gone Girl-esque thriller. I mean, a girl or woman in a swimming pool is an image relevant to the plot, so I guess it kind ...more

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Mar 06, 2018 Kathleen Gray rated it it was amazing

Lovely neat little murder mystery set at a boarding school in New York State. I'm not sure everyone fully appreciates how firmly Gutcheon has set her finger on independent schools- the students, the teachers, the administrators, and the trustees. She's also got a nice twist on a certain class of New Yorker. Never does she condescend but she sure does twist the knife a bit. Very cool. This second novel featuring Maggie and her side kick Hope find the two of them trying to solve the murder of a te ...more

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Sep 05, 2018 Karen rated it it was ok

About halfway through I wanted to give up on The Affliction, but I'd already spent several days getting to that point, and I have a fairly ambitious "books read" goal for this year, so I decided to press on. Boiled down to its essential elements, the plot of this novel is very simple. The number of characters bogs down the story, as does the amount of unnecessary detail that does nothing to move the story along and sometimes hurts it, because the characters she is describing in such detail are a ...more

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Dec 03, 2018 Bookreporter.com Mystery & Thriller rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Murder at an all-girls school? A social comedy at a picturesque private school campus in New York City? A continuation of a series of murder mysteries by a New York Times bestselling author? THE AFFLICTION is all of the above and so much more. With a keen eye and a penchant for suspense, Beth Gutcheon brings us the second in a series of dark-hearted murder stories that surely will continue her place on the list of books you have to read right now.

THE AFFLICTION begins with the retirement of the Murder at an all-girls school? A social comedy at a picturesque private school campus in New York City? A continuation of a series of murder mysteries by a New York Times bestselling author? THE AFFLICTION is all of the above and so much more. With a keen eye and a penchant for suspense, Beth Gutcheon brings us the second in a series of dark-hearted murder stories that surely will continue her place on the list of books you have to read right now.

THE AFFLICTION begins with the retirement of the headmaster of the Rye Manor School for Girls, a school with a fabled past that is now perhaps beyond its prime. Unfortunately, this Hudson River landmark is trying desperately to stay alive. In the changing climate of a fast-paced world, Rye Manor may not fit in the same way it used to as top educators of young women from good backgrounds.

Maggie Detweiler has retired, but is made the erstwhile top dog on a committee dedicated to discovering whether or not the school has a future and how to ensure it, if that’s even possible. Florence Meagher, a lifelong dedicated teacher at Rye Manor, has one fault, an affliction --- she talks too much about everything to everyone. Well loved at the school, Florence recently told her sister that her marriage is on tenterhooks and that, if anything happens to her, “don’t assume it’s an accident.” Maggie shows up one day to observe Florence’s classes and is told that she is missing. Her husband is annoyed rather than alarmed, and her sister is completely distraught. Maggie is worried about the impact her disappearance will have on the school proceedings.

And then Florence is found dead in a swimming pool. On campus. Maggie agrees to stay on campus to help the new headmaster wade through this horrible crisis, but Maggie, unbeknownst to the school, is also an amateur detective. She solved a crime in Maine the previous year, and her friend, Hope, joins her investigation. The two ladies use their very unorthodox but clever wiles to figure out what is going on. Will the school be saved? Who killed Florence? Will her death be vindicated? Will Hope ever read SILAS MARNER? All questions will be answered for the stealthy reader who can keep up with the twists and turns that make THE AFFLICTION a whole lot of fun.

Gutcheon has admitted that her love for Charles Dickens drove her to create this series. Combining comedy with tragedy and intrigue was Dickens’ hallmark, and Gutcheon does a great job of reviving this time-tested combination in an exciting and hilarious way. No subject is too dire for her sharp and witty commentator-protagonists, and this is a fun and well-crafted story.

Even though it’s still snowing, it’s spring break, and for those of you waiting for flights to sunnier climes, do yourself a favor and pick up this book. Before you know it, you’ll be engrossed, and the craziness of Gutcheon’s world will surpass the craziness of the world we’re all engulfed in these days. THE AFFLICTION is a must read.

Reviewed by Jana Siciliano ...more

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Aug 18, 2018 Heidi rated it liked it

Shelves: den-heidi-s-side, libby-read

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. A long time ago, I read one of Beth Gutcheon's "literary" novels, found it incredibly perceptive and well written, and then was so disappointed by the ending, which ended with virtually no resolution, that I vowed never to read another book by this author. Now comes her attempt at mystery writing, so I picked her up again, because I figured that in a mystery you have to have a resolution and since I liked her as a writer and psychologist, I figured it was worth a try. So I read "Death at breakfa A long time ago, I read one of Beth Gutcheon's "literary" novels, found it incredibly perceptive and well written, and then was so disappointed by the ending, which ended with virtually no resolution, that I vowed never to read another book by this author. Now comes her attempt at mystery writing, so I picked her up again, because I figured that in a mystery you have to have a resolution and since I liked her as a writer and psychologist, I figured it was worth a try. So I read "Death at breakfast" – the precursor to this book, and was introduced to the amateur Detective team of Maggie Detweiler, former head of a prestigious private school in New York, and her friend Hope Babbin, divorced socialite with a touch of auntie Mame in her personality. Again, I love the writing, the characterization, but found the mystery easy to figure out, and thus the dénouement rather disappointing. Nevertheless, the journey was delightful and ever since reading this book I have been obsessed with finding an inn in the Northeast that offers beautiful walks and cooking classes, since both of those were heavily featured in "DAB." Now come to "The affliction." Again, the description of the people (who are of course suspects) is impeccable, the locale is beautiful, the social foibles of the upper class is rendered spot on. But there is absolutely no suspense! Doesn't Ms. Gutcheon realize that a mystery is supposed to be mysterious? There are supposed to be red herrings, and people who appear to be one thing but are really another, and the ending is supposed to appear to go one way and then unexpectedly go another for that final pleasurable burst of surprise. And then the detectives are supposed to wrap it all up and explain what was really going on and leave you with a contented feeling that all has been made well. There is absolutely no effort to do any of this. We go through various suspects, and then the last third of the book focuses on the final suspect, and the suspect turns out to be, in fact the suspect (as a fan of Agatha Christie, I was sure that Gutcheon would amaze us with a twist at the end) and the whole thing is not so much wrapped up (we have no idea how the rest of the suspects end up) as finished with a dramatic scene that I don't want to disclose, even though I am hiding the review "because of spoilers". We are not told even really why, though we can infer that.

I will continue to read these mysteries because they are so much fun while they're going on, but I really wish that Gutcheon would leave me more satisfied with the endings, Which is why I am only giving this three stars. ...more

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Dec 27, 2018 Laurel-Rain rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Since retiring as head of a famous New York City private school, Maggie Detweiler is busier than ever. Chairing a team to evaluate the faltering Rye Manor School for girls, she will determine whether, in spite of its fabled past, the school has a future at all. With so much on the line for so many, tensions on campus are at an excruciating pitch, and Maggie expects to be as welcome as a case of Ebola virus.

At a reception for the faculty and trustees to "welcome" Maggie’s team, no one seems more Since retiring as head of a famous New York City private school, Maggie Detweiler is busier than ever. Chairing a team to evaluate the faltering Rye Manor School for girls, she will determine whether, in spite of its fabled past, the school has a future at all. With so much on the line for so many, tensions on campus are at an excruciating pitch, and Maggie expects to be as welcome as a case of Ebola virus.

At a reception for the faculty and trustees to "welcome" Maggie’s team, no one seems more keen for all to go well than Florence Meagher, a star teacher who is loved and respected in spite of her affliction—that she can never stop talking.

Florence is one of those dedicated teachers for whom the school is her life, and yet the next morning, when Maggie arrives to observe her teaching, Florence is missing. Florence’s husband, Ray, an auxiliary policeman in the village, seems more annoyed than alarmed at her disappearance. But Florence’s sister is distraught. There have been tensions in the marriage, and at their last visit, Florence had warned, "If anything happens to me, don’t assume it’s an accident."

Two days later, Florence’s body is found in the campus swimming pool.

Maggie is asked to stay on to coach the very young and inexperienced head of Rye Manor through the crisis. Maggie obviously knows schools, but she also knows something about investigating murder, having solved a mysterious death in Maine the previous year when the police went after the wrong suspect. She is soon joined by her madcap socialite friend Hope, who is jonesing for an excuse to ditch her book club anyway, before she has to actually read Silas Marner.

My Thoughts: When I see a book authored by Beth Gutcheon, I am all in. I wasn’t sure about the boarding school aspect, but the great characters and the wonderful writing kept me turning the pages. Soon I was lost in the story and the discoveries along the way.

The sheer number of possible suspects kept me guessing, but by the time I had settled on the who and the why of the most likely suspect’s actions, I was lost in the fascination of the various routes that Maggie and Hope took to try to find some proof. The police were quite diligent, too, which is always a good thing in small town crime. But a suspect connected to important people cannot be hauled in on circumstantial evidence. By the end, all seemed hopeless. But then, seemingly out of nowhere, an astonishing series of actions taken by an unexpected individual turned everything into a certain kind of justice. 5 stars ...more

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Apr 07, 2018 ExLibris_Kate rated it liked it

3.5 Stars

I don’t consider myself a mystery reader, but every time I pick one up I end up enjoying it. Such was the case with The Affliction, which hovers in the cozy mystery category, although I’m not sure it really fits that mold. Maggie finds herself, in the course of helping a failing private school, drawn in to a murder investigation with a victim to was both beloved and irritating, depending on who you asked. Eventually, Maggie’s best friend Hope starts helping, as well, and together they m 3.5 Stars

I don’t consider myself a mystery reader, but every time I pick one up I end up enjoying it. Such was the case with The Affliction, which hovers in the cozy mystery category, although I’m not sure it really fits that mold. Maggie finds herself, in the course of helping a failing private school, drawn in to a murder investigation with a victim to was both beloved and irritating, depending on who you asked. Eventually, Maggie’s best friend Hope starts helping, as well, and together they made a funny and intelligent duo. Maggie definitely plays straight to Hope’s more outgoing nature, but with their society connections and a lot of determination, they are able to make everything work. Maggie as the retired head of a prestigious private school in New York seems to know everything about the who’s who of east coast money. Hope, a retired lawyer, travels in the same social circles. They use their contacts and resources as much as they use their intelligence and investigative skills.

The setting is a prestigious but failing girls boarding school in a small New York village. Although it is a well trod path, there is always something fascinating about stories that uncover the truth about wealthy families and what really goes on in their lives. There is something particularly insular about the setting because it’s a school that serves girls and is predominately run by women. There were so many subtle nods to the particular stresses that this world puts on girls, which was subtly woven into the story. Everyone they talked to had a life they showed to the world and their true life, which wasn’t always pretty. Each character was interesting and posed a plausible reason to have committed the crime. Each carries their unhappiness with them and as the investigation brought it to the surface, I tried to guess whether it was enough to commit murder. The ending was not what I expected at all, but I loved its theatrical impact. This is actually the second book on the Maggie Detweiler and Hope Babbin series (they can be read as a stand-alone) but I enjoyed the story and Maggie and Hope so much that I think I am going to circle back and read the first book. The Affliction has something for everyone and I recommend giving it a try, even if you don’t consider yourself a mystery reader. ...more

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Oct 03, 2018 Kristin Strong rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorite-author, multiple-by-author

I should probably preface my review with the observation that I have read everything by Beth Gutcheon from "The New Girls" (which is one of my favorite books ever) to the present day. This includes "More Than You Know", an absolutely gutting love story that I also highly recommend.

This is the second book in what I guess is going to be a mystery series starring two ladies of retirement age who go around solving crimes where the police have got the wrong end of the stick. Maggie Detweiler is a ret ...more

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Nov 26, 2017 Susan rated it liked it

I received an advance readers copy at an event for librarians.

Mystery set at a girls boarding school on the Hudson. Nothing deep, but would be an entertaining beach read. I feel like there are holes in the story that I a supposed to know - such as how a minor character, Avis's, daughter died. Is this book part of a series?

There are a lot of characters that sound somewhat alike at first, so it took me a while to get into it, but once I figured them out, it moved quickly. The two main characters ...more

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Nov 07, 2020 Kay rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2020

I read book 1 last year and enjoyed it enough to get the sequel, though it's taken me a while to pick it up. But I had 4 hours to wait for car work and picked this up on a whim as I was heading out for my appointment. I really enjoyed seeing Maggie and Hope again after Maggie is on a team to evaluate a girls' school that is having issues and gets pulled into the mystery surrounding the death of one of the teachers who went missing during the assessment.

I enjoyed the various side characters, thou ...more

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Nov 01, 2017 Jane rated it liked it

Shelves: goodreads-giveaway-wins

Thank you to Goodreads for this win and my honest review.

I don't know if I should have read the first in this series to find out how Maggie got involved in sleuthing but I thought it was a bit far-fetched that she got so involved in it after just being on the school's committee to see if it should be funded or closed. Then she gets her friend involved too who turns out to have a better head on her shoulders to me.

A lot of involvement with students and their parents and murders too which was a n ...more

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Nov 01, 2017 Sarah rated it really liked it

Shelves: general-fiction

This murder mystery definitely kept me turning the pages long past my bedtime. Intriguing with enough plot twists to maintain the element of suspense.
I had not realized this as the second in a series about two middle-aged women turned self-styled detectives. (Have since requested Death at Breakfast from the local library to remedy the situation.) Nonetheless, my understanding was not at all lessened. The central characters were described throughly. Especially fond of Hope, what a terrific chara ...more

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Mar 24, 2018 Terry Pearson rated it liked it

I won a copy of this book here on Goodreads.

This is my first book by Beth Gutcheon. It's a cozy mystery, not the dark and ugly nor tormentingly twisted psychological thrillers I've come to be hooked on. That's okay because you need to switch it up once in a while or you get in a reading rut.

As everyone else has mentioned, the story has multiple small part characters that made it a bit difficult to keep up with ( I suck at remembering names) but that's alright because I figured they were inconseq ...more

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Mar 30, 2018 Dianna (SavingsInSeconds blog) rated it it was ok

Shelves: read-in-2018

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. The cover had a spooky vibe, and I loved the title. That's about where my enjoyment of this book ended. It was so terribly boring! Without knowing about The Affliction, a few months ago I checked out book 1 from the library and didn't read past chapter 2. When I won The Affliction, I didn't realize it was book 2 in this series.

There are far too many spoons stirring this murky stew of mystery. The two main busybodies, Maggie and Hope, were endearing in a ...more

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Apr 03, 2018 Susan rated it really liked it

Shelves: murder-academic, mystery-new-york-state, mystery-new-york-city

Despite a title that sounds as though it belongs to a medical thriller, this is a straight detective story (and a good one) plus a novel of manners. Retired private school head Maggie Detweiler is head of small committee evaluating a private school on the Hudson. During their visit, a popular teacher disappears, only to be found dead later in the swimming pool. Maggie's friend Hope joins her when she stays on to coach the inexperienced head through the crisis. The women--and the police--focus on ...more

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Jun 09, 2018 Lynn Ph.D. rated it liked it

I really wanted to love this book as it started out with such promise. Then more and more characters go added. More plots lines and subplot lines got added. Then more and more extraneous goings-ons got added that seemed to have little to do with the plots - but I kept at it figuring all of this would intertwine. And - loved the writing - and that it so well blended dark stuff and humor.

And then :( I looked and saw that my book marker was near the end of the book. I assumed I had placed it there ...more

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Dec 12, 2018 ReadingGirlReviews (Gina) rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2018

I wanted so badly to like this book, because who doesn’t love a quaint Murder Mystery? Unfortunately this book just lingered on and on and took way too long to come to a conclusion. I have to say it has good “bones,” I mean the plot was there but the story could have been told in about 100 less pages. Because of this I was finding it hard to continue to read, and couldn’t finish it quick enough because I was so bored. Now this is the first Beth Gutcheon book I have ever read, and I must admit th ...more

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May 04, 2021 Kathleen rated it really liked it

Shelves: mysteries, pandemic-reading

Maggie Detweiler, retired exclusive New York private school headmaster, and Hope, her socialite friend return in a sequel to "Death at Breakfast." What begins as a fairly benign murder mystery, a faculty member found dead in a boarding school pool, evolves into a complicated web. The plot travels in many directions, suspects surfacing and fading, rabbit hole after rabbit hole, leaving me unable to dismiss anyone from Rye Manor School for Girls. Gutcheon weaves the dark underbelly of the privileg ...more

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About Beth Gutcheon

Beth Gutcheon

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Beth Gutcheon grew up in western Pennsylvania. She was educated at Harvard where she took an honors BA in English literature. She has spent most of her adult life in New York City, except for sojourns in San Francisco and on the coast of Maine. In 1978, she wrote the narration for a feature-length documentary on the Kirov ballet school, The Children of Theatre Street, which was nominated for an Ac ...more

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Quotes from The Affliction

“Next door was a vegetarian café and deli, and next to that was the Wooly Bear yarn shop. Its logo was a caterpillar in shades of yellow, green, and scarlet. Maggie went in.
The shop was warm and bright, with one entire wall given over to cubbyholes filled with yarns of every hue in many weights and fibers. The opposite wall held small skeins and spools of thread on pegs for embroidery and quilting. There were racks of pattern books and magazines, and in the back a mini classroom was set up with a small maple table and folding chairs, now accommodating a group of eight-year-olds wielding fat knitting needles and balls of oversize wool. A girl of about sixteen wearing a Rye Manor sweatshirt was helping a little boy to cast on stitches.” — 0 likes

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