This was one of the last books bumma was reading, and while she didn't have the strength to finish it, the idea of a group of widows meeting made her wistful. She lost her beloved 28 years ago today, which would have been their 68th anniversary, and never loved another man. She told me once that she thought when my dad first died, that she might remarry, because she was so young. But she soon realized she had no interest in finding another man. She found other passions in her life: grandchildren, Jane Austen Society, taking courses at the College of Charleston, and eventually, BookCrossing. Anyhow, she asked me to read the book and tell her how it came out. So I did.
I found it a little slow at first, but gentle. I'd read The Shop on Blossom Street, which I think was the first in this interconnected series, and was interested in seeing that Macomber has used this street to develop stories about women and the different situations we sometimes go through. As with that first book, this book had realistic situations we might face. And though one of the twenty wishes of several of the women each make was to find love, the way they each found it was different, and not always man-dependent.
I wish there was a Blossom street nearby me, where there could be a bookstore, a yarn shop, a nice cafe and a florist, all of which welcomed people to sit around and chat, laugh and cry. (Actually,I've got all those places here, but not all on one street, so I'm lucky in my own right. And, I've got girlfriends. Great girlfriends, near and far, and the love of an amazingly wonderful man. I am truly blessed.)