Author Spotlight: Debbie Macomber

If you have a weakness for heroines who triumph over the odds, as I do, you will love Debbie Macomber’s own story. A dyslexic homemaker and mother of four with only a high school education struggles for five years, typing romance stories on a rented typewriter at her kitchen table. Finally, her first manuscript, Heartsong, is bought by Silhouette Books. It becomes the first book in the company’s “Inspiration” line and the first category romance reviewed by Publishers Weekly, a review that praises the author’s weaving together “the themes of love and religion.” Twenty-five years later, she is the author of more than 150 books, a consistent bestseller, and the winner of the first Quill Award for romance fiction. From the beginning, reviewers have used words like “heartwarming,” “charm,” and “gentle humor” to describe Debbie Macomber’s books. Whether readers choose one of her reissued categories, one of her beloved narratives of those mischievous angels, Shirley, Goodness, and Mercy, or one of her community-centered Cedar Cove or Blossom Street novels, they can count on a book that will have exactly those qualities.

I started reading Macomber with her Navy categories, and I have spent many hours over the years reading her books. I have a special fondness for the angel books. They are delightful within themselves, and because my mother loved the early ones, Shirley and company bring memories of her and our shared love of reading. Changing Habits is my favorite Macomber. I love the 60s background; I think the three central characters are unforgettable. And I never miss a Cedar Cove book.

In 2004 Macomber expanded her fan base with the first of the Blossom Street books, The Shop on Blossom Street, a woman’s fiction novel that focuses on a group of women of varying ages and backgrounds who are brought together in a beginning knitting class taught by Lydia Hoffman, a two-time cancer survivor and owner of A Good Yarn, a shop on Blossom Street in Seattle. The book ended up on the New York Times extended bestseller list, and sold well over 100,000 copies. The second book in the series, A Good Yarn earned a higher spot on the Times bestseller list and sold more than 150,000 copies. The paperback reprint of The House on Blossom Street sold 840,000 copies. Success continued with Book #3, Back on Blossom Street, which added a flower shop, Susannah’s Garden, (also the title of another, loosely related book) to the series and followed the pattern of allowing the reader to catch up on the lives of familiar characters and become engaged with new ones. The next book, Twenty Wishes, added a bookstore to the shops on Blossom Street. Anne Marie Roche, the owner, is a childless widow. She and three of her widowed friends make lists of twenty wishes and set out on quests that lead them to happier, more fulfilling lives. Knitting, dancing in the rain, and a trip to Paris may enrich Anne Marie’s life, but it is shy, eight-year-old Ellen who transforms it. The fifth Blossom Street book, Summer on Blossom Street, will be released Tuesday, April 28.

Summer on Blossom Street has Macomber’s trademark blend of warmth and real life problems. Lydia Goetz decides to offer a “Knit to Quit” class at A Good Yarn, despite the skepticism of her curmudgeonly sister Margaret. The class fills with an assortment of characters: Phoebe Rylander, who is trying to emotionally and physically distance herself from her cheating former fiancé; Alix Turner, Lydia’s friend, who longs to stop smoking so that she and her minister husband can begin their family; and Bryan “Hutch” Hutchinson, a workaholic chocolate company owner, who has been advised by his doctor to learn to knit as stress management. (He brings company samples to the classes. You have to love this guy.)

In addition to Alix, who is part of the class, other familiar friends turn up. Anne Marie Roche and Ellen are just back from their trip to Paris, and Ellen is teaching French to the Baxter the Yorkie, both of them definitely heart-stealing characters. Anne Marie’s new-found serenity is marred by the arrival of a stranger asking questions about Ellen. One of the things I liked best about the book was Anne Marie’s relationship with Ellen and her determination to make decisions that were best for her daughter.

Lydia is thrilled with her own life. She is healthy, she, her husband, and her stepson are happy together, and she and Brad have decided to adopt a baby. When they are asked to temporarily foster an angry, wary twelve-year-old girl, Lydia, Brad, and Cody all are confronted with challenges. Casey is a troubled child with real trust issues, and she tests the family in realistic ways.

The Blossom Street books have attracted many knitters, and Macomber again includes in the book a pattern for the class project. Readers who share the author’s enthusiasm for the craft can knit the cable scarf the “Knit to Quit” group makes. But you don’t have to be a knitter to appreciate Summer on Blossom Street. I’ve never even picked up a knitting needle, and I found my return visit to Blossom Street a joy. Neither do you have to have read the other Blossom Street books to enjoy this one, although repeat visitors will enjoy revisiting old friends.

I think particularly today when we are bombarded with news of job cuts, business closings, and shrinking incomes, there is much to be said for books that offer a respite from our cares and allow us to briefly inhabit a world where problems are solved, friendships are true, and love is always flowering. I’m already looking forward to my next visit to Debbie Macomber’s fictional world.

Have you read Debbie Macomber? Are you a knitter or another kind of crafter? What do you think of “sweet romances”? Of women’s fiction?