Sonoma Rose

February 27, 2012
Set in California during Prohibition, Chiaverini's newest Elm Creek Quilts novel (after The Union Quilters) follows Rosa Diaz Barclay as she flees her abusive, bootlegger husband, John, in search of a better life with her true love, Lars Jorgensen, and a cure for the mysterious disease that's already claimed four of her children, and threatens to kill the othersâtwo of which were fathered by the troubled Lars. Finding work at a now-illegal vineyard in Sonoma Valley, the couple get caught in a web of cops, mobsters, and farmers trying to survive, all the while struggling to care for their kids, iron out their own relationship, and enjoy the region they've come to love. Chiaverini does an excellent job of describing the lush landscapes of California wine country, while simultaneously painting a touching portrait of the difficulties faced by farming families who must tend to one another, as well as the earth. Agent: Maria Massie, Massie Lippincott McQuilkin.

February 1, 2012
Chiaverini's latest Elm Creek Quilts novel revisits Prohibition-era California. For Rosa Barclay, marriage to taciturn and occasionally violent postmaster John is hellish, despite the verdant Southern California valley where they live and farm. For reasons that are exhaustively (and needlessly for readers of a prequel, Quilter's Homecoming) detailed in flashbacks, Rosa chose John over her true love, unreliable drunkard Lars, whose family owns the apricot orchards her own ancestors lost decades before. When her parents learn that Rosa's first child, Marta, was actually Lars', they disown her (although her mother visits secretly). Lars leaves town after a last tryst with Rosa. When she discovers valises crammed with cash in the barn, she wonders why John refuses to seek better medical treatment for a hereditary wasting disease (from John's side of the family) afflicting their children Ana and Miguel. (Four other children died of the disease.) In fact, only Marta and 5-year-old Lupita are healthy, inflaming John's suspicions about their paternity. His abuse of Rosa increases until a particularly savage beating forces Rosa and the children to flee. Equipped with some of John's cash (proceeds of bootlegging, which leads to his arrest and imprisonment), Rosa rejoins a sober and penitent Lars. They consult a San Francisco specialist who correctly diagnoses the children's condition. Under assumed names the fugitive family sets up housekeeping as hired hands at a Sonoma winery owned by the Cacchione clan. Like many vintners, the Cacchiones can't wait out Prohibition without going bankrupt, unless they bootleg their wine. After a raid led by evil federal agent Crowell, and threatening letters sent by John from prison, Lars and Rosa "launder" John's remaining cash by purchasing their own vineyard in Glen Ellen. How long before John, Crowell and the gangsters operating in Rosa's own backyard close in? Choked by repetitive exposition, the novel wheezes to life in the last 75 pages, only to end too abruptly.Like an overgrown vine, this book could have benefited from extreme pruning.

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March 1, 2012
The latest entry in Chiaverini's popular Elm Creek Quilts series is set in Prohibition-era California. Rosa Diaz has turned her back on her true love, Lars Jorgensen, because of his drinking problem, and married rancher John Barclay. All seems well at first, but after some setbacks, John grows abusive. With her four children, some heirloom quilts, some cash she discovered in the barn, and Lars, she sets out for San Francisco, where she hopes to consult with a specialist about the disease that has already killed several of her children and still afflicts two. Rosa and Lars find work picking table grapes at a winery owned by the Cacchiones, who turn out to be bootleggers. After the winery is raided, Rosa buys a nearby farm, which is christened Sonoma Rose Vineyards and Orchards. Though both John and government agents pose a threat, everything is resolved, and Rosa is well positioned when Prohibition comes to an end. Rosa's struggles, interwoven with many scenes of comfy domesticity, help make the novel relatable for Chiaverini's many fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)