This book sucked me right in! I had my doubts at first because I am NOT a romance novel reader. However, it captured my attention and I found it very interesting. I am a grief therapist and I found that this was an excellent book about recovering from loss, years later. Also, I am a quilter, and there is a LOT of quilting in this. What fun!

I usually don't like books like this, but once I got into this story and learned more about the strength of Helen an expert quilt and family matriarch; Helen's daughter Nancy, who has had quite the uphill battle to overcome her simple country roots; and Tessa, Nancy's daughter who has lost a daughter and is determined to keep the drunk driver behind bars. the more of this book I read, the more I adored the women that I have met and the message that they tell.

Helen is now getting to the age where it's harder for her to take care of her home and her farm and when Nancy and Tessa go out for a visit they are shocked at what has become of Helen. Indomitable Helen just isn't able to do it all anymore, and when they arrive to discuss leaving her mountain home they are shocked at the mess the place is in. Helen has turned into a hoarder. Remember, she came from a time when you didn't throw anything away, you never know when you might need it again. Now there are just so many piles and such clutter that the home isn't safe anymore. While gathering up and throwing away Tessa finds the old quilts that her grandmother has made and with each quilt a little bit more of her grandmothers and in turn her mothers stories come out.

These three women deeply love each other, but with any family ties there are moments that you could just as easily walk away. But walking away isn't what these women are about and when they are face to face with that truth, you see them fight amongst themselves and those that love them to, come out better strong women in the end.

Family isn't easy but when you combine it was aging, failing marriages and the loss of a child what doesn't tear you apart will in time make stronger bonds that are what help woman who love each other accomplish anything.

First book in the Shenandoah Valley Series

Fantastic book about three generations of women in a family ~ makes you think and appreciate!!!

The story of four women's life's. As a quilter it warmed my
heart.

Story about three women related by birth that have never been close and how they get through the summer and begin to see each other for the flawed and courageous women they actually are.

For Helen, Nancy, and Tessa, three generations of Henry women, quilts truly represent the fabric of their lives. Using scraps of feed sacks, wedding gowns, and baby clothes, matriarch Helen has chronicled her family in the hundreds of quilts she's made. Helen is now a recluse beset by an irrational paranoia that induces her to hoard everything she can, and her bizarre behavior motivates her daughter, Nancy, and granddaughter, Tessa, to spend their summer cleaning out their Shenandoah Valley homestead. For Tessa, the project is a way to avoid facing the tragedy of her young daughter's death, and the toll it is exacting on her marriage. For Nancy, returning to the house where she grew up forces her to confront the questionable circumstances of her own marriage and motherhood. Recalling her work as a volunteer in the Ozark Mountains, and acknowledging her roots in Virginia's pastoral Shenandoah Valley

Story of generational relationships between grandmother, mother and daughter. They discover the healing gift of family, momories and love. There are life struggles that are figured out.

The first one in a series. Endless Chain and Lovers Knot are the others in the series. Good Reading

I almost hate to say this, but I enjoyed this book even more than the Elm Creek Quilt series. I loved how the quilts were worked in and boy do I wish I could have seen pictures of them! The story held my attention all the way to the end, and I had a very hard time putting it down. Needless to say, I went to bed WAY too late last night! LOL It was a terrific and heart warming story.

What a wonderful story. Not only does the author catch the details of the era in which the action is set, but she also is honest in the emotions of her characters. Three generations of women in a family that reflects the trials and tribulations of our country over the last 80 years. And for anyone interested in quilting the subplot offers a wonderful appreciation for that time honored art.

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Very interesting read! I loved the way the author used quilts as a metaphor for life! This is the first book in a series and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the seris.

What a wonderful, heartwarming story! This is the perfect book for a long, lazy weekend (or in my case, when you are staying home sick from work and need a distraction). It tells that story of three generations of women who are forced to spend the summer together. Tessa, Nancy, and Helen never really got along, but that's also because they never really got a chance to know each other. Helen is seen as a crabby, old woman who doesn't know how to show love, but her daughter Nancy and granddaughter Tessa, never knew the secret heartache that she's carried for so long. Nancy is only seen as a shallow, social climber, but that's because she's been trying to hide her true self under layers after getting hurt earlier in her life. Tessa is trying to pick up the pieces of her marriage and of herself after a devastating loss a few years earlier. Helen is at a point in her life where she can no longer maintain her home properly, and Nancy & Tessa come spend the summer to help clean out the clutter she collected. Throw into this mix a shared love of quilting, and the arrival of Cissy, a young pregnant neighbor who help these women with their problems by letting them help her prepare for her baby. Together, they beginning to see something not only in each other that they never saw before, but something in themselves as well. If you are a mother or a daughter, you will certainly find yourself connecting to this book! :-) I found out that this is part of a series, so I might end up picking up one of the others in the future! :-)

I loved this book. We got it for a book club read...haven't done the discussion on it...but now I want to finish the rest of the series:) Great...emotional...draws you in.

This book is about 3 generations of woman needing to discover the healing gift of family, memories, and love. Tessa MacRae needs time to think about her troubled marriage, agrees to spend the summer with her mother and grandmother cleaning out the family home in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. The 3 women have never been close. Helen, the family matriarch, is domineering and sharp-tongued. Nancy Tessa's mom appears to care more about social climbing, and Tessa is in turmoil following a family tragedy that has affected them all.

With the gift of time, Tessa's eyes are opened, and she begins to see her mother and grandmother for the flawed but courage filled women that they are. As she works on restoring a vintage wedding-ring quilt pieced by her grandmother and quilted by her mom, the secrets that have shadowed their lives unfold at last, and each woman discovers that sometimes you have to clean house to find the things you thought were lost.

An excellent book in this series.

I do not consider myself a "reader". My mother and sister read more books than I can count but I never found as much joy in books as they did. Until I found PaperBackSwap! This was the first book from PBS that I read and I have always wanted to really learn to sew but this book gave me an intense desire to learn how to quilt!!
The characters were so well developed that by the end you felt like there were dear friends.
There was one main issue regarding Tessa and Mack that I thought was unresolved by the end of the book, but I am hoping to find it mentioned in Endless Chain- which I started the second I read the last page of Wedding Ring. =)
Also, I found this author while doing an online search for Christian Romance novels, and for having been reviewed as "Christian" I was surprised to find as much reference to sex/sex scenes (although minimal compared to secular romance novels)as I did. I was saddened that the word "erection" found a place in this book more than once.
Overall though, I loved the book and can't wait to see how the legacy lives on in the next books.

Loved this book (as well as others in Shenandoah Album series)

Lovely story about three generations of women. The daughter and granddaughter come together to help the mother - who has let the family farm overwhelm her. Tracing the joys and sorrows of this family was rewarding. I truly enjoyed the story.

Great story

A warm, wonderful, caring book.

If you love quilts this is a wonderful story of three generations of women and a guilt. Good a bad times in life.

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