Blog Tour Review: Tapestry by Beth Duke

Hi all!

My name is Chiara and I am a Bookworm.

How are you all?

I’m so excited to share with you this review of a brilliant new book that I recommend you all read.

I should start by thanking Emma at damppebbles blog tours and Beth Duke for a review copy of this book. I have thoroughly enjoyed every moment with this book.

Tapestry by Beth Duke

Blurb

Twenty-one-year-old Skye Willis lives in Eufaula, Alabama, a tourist mecca of stately homes and world-class bass fishing. Her childhood friends are either stuck at dead ends or have moved on to accomplish Big Things.

Skye’s grandmother, Verna, insists on being called “Sparrow” because she suspects her ancestors were Muscogee Creek. She dresses in faux deerskin and experiments with ancient Native American recipes, offering a myth or legend to anyone who will listen.

Skye has no idea what to do with her life. She’s smart as hell, but she has no faith or knowledge there’s something out there she was “born to do.” Nor does she know much of anything about her father, who died in Afghanistan when she was a toddler. He and his family are a mystery her mother won’t discuss. But when Sparrow sets out to confirm her Creek ancestry through genetic testing, Skye joins in.

The results hit like a DNA bomb, launching them both on a path filled with surprises and life-changing events. Skye learns a harder truth than she ever expected.

Alternating chapters between Skye’s Alabama life and an intertwining tale of greed, deceit, and control in Texas, this story offers proof that all life is a woven tapestry of past, present, and future.

In Beth Duke’s uplifting and soul-singing voice, TAPESTRY is Southern Fiction at its best; you will cry, you will laugh out loud, and you will wish you were a member of the beautiful, matriarchal family Duke has created for her readers.

This book is a must-read for fans of Fannie Flagg, Anne Rivers Siddons, and Rebecca Wells.

My Thoughts

I have thoroughly enjoyed every moment of reading Beth Duke’s new novel, Tapestry. The closest I can equate it to is doing a jigsaw puzzle, with no picture, and only being handed the pieces one at the time. You’re not quite sure how they all fit together or if they ever will, but you are amazed by the picture that slowly emerges before you.

Her characters are breath-taking and unique and so full of life. I have to give special mention to Verna, or more commonly called ‘The Sparrow’. She is such a colourful personality. She is vibrant and a guiding force through out the entire book. I think most people either have or want a person in their life like Sparrow. She has so many stories and so much knowledge and wisdom to impart on the world that it can’t be communicated in one life time.

I have to say that this isn’t a book that I would normally pick up. It is a little left field for me, but I can say with my whole heart that I loved it and that I would definitely pick up another of Duke’s books in the future.

The one thing that knocked a star off for me is the pacing. Toward the middle I found it a little slow for my tastes but I really picked up again in the second half of the book.

A great book for your (virtual) holidays; a book you can really relax into. It provoked smiles and laughter and even tears in parts. I hope you pick it up and read it.

About the Author

Beth Duke is the recipient of short story awards on two continents and is eyeing the other five.
She lives in the mountains of her native Alabama with her husband, one real dog, one ornamental dog, and a flock of fluffy pet chickens.
She loves reading, writing, and not arithmetic.
Baking is a hobby, with semi-pro cupcakes and amateur macarons a specialty.
And puns—the worse, the better.
Travel is her other favourite thing, along with joining book clubs for discussion. Please invite her to London…England or Kentucky, either is fine. Anywhere!

Find her on:

Twitter | Facebook | Website | Instagram | Bookbub