The Oysterville Sewing Circle

3.5 stars. Thank goodness Susan Wiggs is still writing Women's Fiction (several of my favorite authors have apparently abandoned the genre for edgy thrillers), although The Oysterville Sewing Circle is weakened by too much plot and a subtle anti-feminist undertone. There's an awful lot to cover in less than 400 pages, including Caroline's attempt to reclaim her fashion career after a top designer steals her ideas, her sudden thrust into parenting two orphaned, traumatized children that causes her to return home after years of self-exile, and her attempts to start a domestic abuse survivor support group. Plus there's a romance shoehorned in there as well. The result is that most of the plots don't get the attention they deserve. I especially would have appreciated reading more about little Flick and Addie's adjustment to their new lives (they seemed remarkably resilient for two children who have moved to a strange new place with a woman they barely know after their mother dies suddenly), and about the Oysterville Sewing Circle participants. Instead, the novel focuses more on the love story between Caroline and her childhood friend Will, who is married to her best friend Sierra when Caroline arrives back home. Flashback scenes show how Will and Caroline met and bonded when they were barely teenagers, although their friendship transformed several years later when Sierra moved to town, and she and Will started dating. Within a few chapters of the current story, Will and Sierra's marriage is in trouble, then Sierra is gone and Will and Caroline are together. Despite the many years they knew each other it seems to happen within just a few pages. But the reader is supposed to be okay with that because Sierra didn't want kids and had an abortion, so she doesn't deserve to be happy. Oh, Wiggs says all the right things about a woman's right to choose, but when it comes down to it, Caroline who loves children gets the HEA, and Sierra who doesn't is miserable and bitter (but professionally successful, so there is that).The domestic violence issues are presented honestly and for those who might not know anything about the dynamics it's an important topic to include. This isn't my favorite Susan Wiggs novel (that's probably [b:The Apple Orchard 16074553 The Apple Orchard (Bella Vista Chronicles, #1) Susan Wiggs https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388276273s/16074553.jpg 18171290]), but it is still a quick rewarding (and somewhat frustrating) read. ARC received from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.