Most of us have dreamed of starting over, of recreating ourselves in some way, of resurrecting a once forgotten ambition. Rosy Thornton's latest novel, The Tapestry of Love, follows Catherine Parkstone, a forty-eight year old divorcée, on just such a journey. Leaving all that is familiar, she moves from England to the mountains of the Cevennes, to begin a tapestry business in a rural farming community called La Grelaudiere.
The Tapestry of Love is a wonderfully slow-paced novel that perfectly mirrors the "never in a hurry" attitude of life in rural France. It takes its time and meanders in the same way that paths along the hillsides of La Grelaudiere slowly make their way to the hilltops. It's a book to savor and enjoy, as Thornton lovingly and vividly describes the landscape, cuisine, and people of the Cevennes.
Throughout the novel, Rosy Thornton deftly uses Catherine's tapestries as a metaphor for Catherine's new life, and for life in general. Just as Catherine's stitches weave and overlap, each separate color intertwining with another, to form a larger, more intricate picture, so do the new friendships, loves, and patterns of daily life become interwoven in the tapestry of Catherine's life. But, unlike a tapestry where the pattern and colors are chosen and planned, life often brings in unexpected strands such as sorrow and tragedy. How Catherine weaves love, peace, friendship, and sorrow into her own life's tapestry is one of the joys of this novel.
Characters
The characters in The Tapestry of Love, are the novel's focus, and are believable and lovable because of, and not despite, their flaws and foibles. There are no grand heroes or heroines in this novel, just ordinary people living their lives. Maybe it's this ordinariness that makes the characters so familiar, and by the end of the novel, seem like friends.
- Catherine Parkstone is a forty-eight year old divorcée and mother of two adult children. Influenced by fond childhood memories of a vacation to the Cevennes, she leaves the familiarity of her life in England and moves to an old farmhouse called Les Fenils (the haylofts). Here, she hopes to start a tapestry business, and find a new life. Sensible and kind, but a bit of a procrastinator, Catherine slowly becomes a valuable part of the La Grelaudiere community.
- Patrick Castagnol, Catherine's neighbor, is hard to define. When Catherine first meets him, he is splitting logs near the wall of his orchard. She notices that the arms below his rolled-up shirt sleeves are "lean and closely muscled". She soon finds that this dark, handsome man is more than just a farmer; he is highly cultured, an excellent cook, and he speaks English like a native. There is an air of mystery about him, and he remains slightly aloof and reserved. Is Patrick the seemingly perfect man he appears to be, or is he, in the words of Catherine's son Tom, "a bit too smooth for his own good"?
- Bryony, Catherine's sister, is three years younger than Catherine. She is a corporate lawyer in a top firm, and is the quintessential "work-aholic". Always dressed to kill, Bryony is a city-girl in every way. As Catherine says during a visit by Bryony to Les Fenils, "Who but Bryony would wear foundation and blusher to morning market in St Julien"?
- Lexie and Tom are Catherine's children. Lexie is a twenty-seven year old journalist. Vivacious and sweet-natured, she tends to be a bit flighty, and bounces from one magazine job to another. Tom, twenty-five, is a biochemist. He is soft-spoken and intelligent, and loves the outdoors. He very quietly, yet astutely observes the world around him.
- Monsieur and Madame Bouschet are Catherine's neighbors and my personal favorites. A dear, sweet, "retired" farming couple, they are the first to stretch out their hands in friendship when Catherine arrives. Never overly demonstrative, the Bouschets show their friendship in other ways. Overtime, Catherine and the Bouschets develop a deep, loving friendship based on mutual respect and simple times spent together.
The Tapestry of Love is filled with other minor, yet wonderful characters who enhance and enrich the novel.
The Tapestry of Love: A Brief Summary
When Catherine arrives at Les Fenils, she arrives at the time of the autumn transhumance; a yearly movement of livestock from grazing grounds in the high hills to the comfort and safety of the valley. For Catherine, "It is impossible to avoid the observation that she is travelling the other way, leaving behind the comfort and security of home and heading up the mountain". Was this to be an omen?
Her first few days at Les Fenils certainly feel forbidding with no electricity, telephone, or supplies. Catherine, always the optimist, makes the best of things, and before long, Les Fenils begins to feel like home. Catherine learns to love the quiet of her new life, and the rough and beautiful countryside gives her a feeling of connection to nature and inspiration for her tapestries.
The Bouschets do everything in their quiet way to make Catherine feel at home. Monsieur Bouschet cuts and delivers Catherine's hay, there are invitations to their humble home, and small gifts from their farm make their way to her doorstep.
Slowly, as her tapestry business begins to expand, so does her web of friendships. Patrick Cavagnol, the Bouschets, the local priest, Pere Amyot, and other farmers in her hamlet of La Grelaudiere, all become a network of support and love.
Catherine keeps her ties with home, and slowly and beautifully, these ties become interwoven with her life at Les Fenils. Bryony, Lexie, Tom, and even Catherine's mother who has Alzheimer's and is in a nursing home all become an integral part of her new life in one way or another.
This beautifully written novel lets the reader see that life is constantly weaving a tapestry of color, richness, and things unexpected into our lives. It is a book to be given to people you love, to be re-read and savored. Francophiles will appreciated Rosy Thornton's details of French rural life, and anyone who has ever dreamed of starting over, will find hope and inspiration.
About the Author
Rosy Thornton began writing fiction in 2005, and The Tapestry of Love is her fourth novel. Inspired by a two-week vacation in the Cevennes mountains, Rosy sought to recreate for Catherine what she felt was "the most beautiful place on earth".
Rosy is a lecturer and Fellow at Emmanuel College, Cambridge and finds writing novels to be a welcome change to writing about trusts and tenant law.
Inspired by a 2004 BBC production of Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South, Rosy began her fiction career with a pastiche sequel to Gaskell's novel. Soon after, she was writing the novels that have become so well loved. Rumor has it that there is a new novel in the works; this Rosy Thornton fan can't wait.
Sources
Thornton, Rosy, The Tapestry of Love, Headline Publishing Group, London, 2010, ISBN:978 0 7553 4557 1
Andrea Ruiz - I am a graduate of Boston University with a degree in International Relations. I was born and raised in the Boston area, and even though I ...
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