Rachael Herron

2nd book in the Cypress Hollow Yarn series, which is just pure fun fibery fluff. But it's well-written fluff. I'm really loving the characters Herron creates. And I love the idea of Eliza as matchmaker from the great beyond!

As a fan of Rachael Herron's writing podcasts, I bought Fast Draft Your Memoir despite the fact that I don't write in the genre. The advice on crafting story in the book can be generalized to fiction and, surprisingly, poetry. Ages ago, I stopped writing personal poetry probably for the same reason most writers would be hesitant to write memoir. Herron's advice on writing from life can be applied to poets working in the personal mode who share the concerns of memoirists. The warmth, wit, and show more wisdom in Herron's voice in her podcasts translates well to the page. Highly recommended for writers of any genre that includes putting the personal on the page. show less

(I received a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.)

The Seven Miracles of Beatrix Holland is a charming book about a woman having a midlife crisis and sorting out who she really is and what she wants out of life, with a supernatural twist. It's tempting to call it "cozy", but it deals extensively with loss, grief, and facing one's own mortality, in contrast to its Hallmark-movie trappings.

I liked the main character and her journey, especially her growing relationships with show more her long-lost sister, Cordelia, and niece, Minna. I also appreciate that, although the specific job Beatrix has isn't fulfilling for her, she actually does like being an accountant and her love of numbers and spreadsheets is something she incorporates into the new directions her life takes. The main romance, in which Beatrix finds love with a butch widow who helps her renovate her houseboat, is not a huge focus but is nice.

My main complaint about the book is the handling of Beatrix's long-lost mother, Astrid. We're introduced to her as a woman who is cruel, controlling, and transphobic, and we don't really see her move past those things or grow into someone who wouldn't repeat the mistakes of the past, and yet over the course of the book we're clearly meant to come to like her and root for her to get back together with Beatrix's father, Mitchell. Mostly it seems like we're meant to take Cordelia at her word when she says that Beatrix doesn't really know Astrid and has feelings about her that are unfairly colored by resentment towards Astrid for abandoning her. Cordelia keeps pointing out that she feels the same way about Mitchell, but here readers can see for ourselves that she's being a bit unfair because we see Mitchell as a fleshed-out character with flaws and good points and things that he's learned over the 40+ years that he and Astrid have been apart. Meanwhile, Astrid never does anything that seriously contradicts Beatrix's impressions of her.

So for that reason I couldn't really buy into the "Parent Trap" subplot of the book (and it doesn't help that Astrid and Mitchell only meet again in about the last third of the book, if not the last quarter, so there's not a lot of time for that to develop). But it's a minor part of the narrative compared to Beatrix's relationships with Cordelia and Minna and her own self-discovery, so it isn't a total book-ruiner. show less

I was kind of on the fence about it but decided to buy it since I like to knit. I am so glad I did, because I really enjoyed this book!
Rachael Herron was (is?) the author of a popular knitting blog, back when blogs were the thing, and she's been knitting since she was young. Herron is a really great writer, and she's skilled at putting you right in the situation she's describing and making you feel what she felt. Despite not knowing she existed before I picked up this book, I warmed to her show more immediately and enjoyed the glimpses into her life. She doesn't shy away from sharing embarrassing or painful events that happened to her, and readily shares any insight she gleaned from the experiences. Herron shares stories about her family, her experiences dating and falling in love with both men and women, and how she met her wife. I loved the essay about Venice, one of her favorite cities in the world. It really made me want to visit Venezia and take up knitting again. I loved this book and would recommend to anyone who likes knitting or memoirs. show less