Title: Tapestry of Fortunes

Author: Elizabeth Berg

Publisher: Random House 2013

Genre: Women's Fiction

Pages: 219

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Women Author; Library; Lucky No. 14 -- Not My Cup of Tea; 52 Books -- W23

Cecilia Ross is a motivational speaker who encourages others to change their lives for the better. Why can’t she take her own advice? Still reeling from the death of her best friend, and freshly aware of the need to live more fully now, Cece realizes that she has to make a move—all the portentous signs seem to point in that direction.

She downsizes her life, sells her suburban Minnesota home and lets go of many of her possessions. She moves into a beautiful old house in Saint Paul, complete with a garden, chef’s kitchen, and three housemates: Lise, the home’s owner and a divorced mother at odds with her twenty-year-old daughter; Joni, a top-notch sous chef at a first-rate restaurant with a grade A jerk of a boss; and Renie, the youngest and most mercurial of the group, who is trying to rectify a teenage mistake. These women embark on a journey together in an attempt to connect with parts of themselves long denied. For Cece, that means finding Dennis Halsinger. Despite being “the one who got away,” Dennis has never been far from Cece’s thoughts.

This was our book club selection for June.  I probably would never have picked up this book to read if it hadn't been a club selection.  On the surface it just doesn't seem like my kind of book.   I wasn't particularly interested in reading about a motivational speaker finding herself.  To my surprise, I really enjoyed this short little novel.  I was pulled into Cece's journey right from the start.  I came to love Joni, Lise, and Renie.  My only issue with the novel is the quick wrap-up in the last twenty pages.  I would have liked a bit more...