Vintage -

Behind every piece of clothing is a story. That is what makes Hourglass Vintage something unique than your usual retail clothing stores. There is the story of how each item found its way into the store and thus the reason why Violet Turner had desperately wanted her store to succeed. She took the time to understand the purpose behind acquiring each item she sold. She had hoped with each rent payment she made that she would someday own the store she ran and the apartment she lived in above. It was one of the very reasons she entered into the contract with Mortenson & Son Properties Inc.

The last thing she had ever expected to see what a man in her store serving her an eviction notice. Knowing she can't possibly afford to fight this with a high price attorney, she meets with Ted Mortenson to see what options she has. (1) she can pay the market rate for the building, which is around a million dollars, or (2) take a compromise offer of two months of rent and vacate the property in a couple of months. Violet knows she can't possibly come up with the down payment to buy back the building and meets with her life long friend, Karen Young who is an attorney who offers to help her stall the process to give Violet more time.

Meanwhile Violet receives an offer from her friend Betsy Barrett, a wealthy women who was a member of a local women's organization to consider taking on a young pregnant girl, April Morgan who needs a job to help her cope with the recent break up with her boyfriend Charlie. It will enable her to put her math skills to work aiding Violet in establishing a system of organization within her shop and keep April from worrying too much about her future as a mom, now that Charlie cancelled their wedding plans thanks to the encouragement of his wealthy parents to pay for his medical school costs.

As the story progress we get to meet quite a few of Violet's customers who are going through their own personal struggle which brings them into her store. It's more about finding hope through common circumstances as each of the women in Violet's life gives her more than just articles of clothing to sell in her store, they are giving her a piece of their past lives and in some cases ones they don't want back.

I received Vintage from Susan Gloss, a debut novel in The Friday Night Knitting Club compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins Publishers for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions in this review are strictly my own. This novel does contain some profanity as a caution to readers who would be caught unaware picking this one up. I would have liked to have seen the author omit it since it's not necessary to move the novel forward or pertaining to Violet's character. I am a huge fan of antiques and vintage items because of the history behind each one you pick up much like the items in Hourglass Vintage which become the chapter starters in this novel. The story toggles between Violet's customers as each share their struggles in both their past and present lives through the articles them bring into her store. I give this novel a 4 out of 5 stars in my opinion based on my personal rating system.

For more information about Vintage, Susan Gloss or where to order a copy of this novel, please click on the links below:

Vintage: A Novel by Susan Gloss

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To read more reviews on Vintage: A Novel please visit William Morrow's website.