Title: The Fortune Quilt
Author: Lani Diane Rich
ISBN: 0451220277
Pages: 272
Release Date: March 6, 2007
Genre: Chick Lit
Rating: **** (out of 5)

From the back cover:

Carly McKay's life is going just fine until she produces a television piece on psychic quilt maker Brandywine Seaver and receives a quilt with an enigmatic reading telling her that everything is about to change. Carly blows off the reading until it comes true. Her boss runs off with all the stations assets, leaving her jobless; her best friend, Christopher proclaims his (unrequited) love for her, leaving her friendless; and her mother, who deserted the family seventeen years ago, returns, sending Carly into a serious tilt.

Convinced it's the quilt's fault, Carly races down to the small artists' community of Bilby, Arizone, to confront its maker, and ends up with an unexpected friend in Brandy - and in Will, the laid-back painter who rents the cabin next door. With quirky new buddies and no more deadlines, Carly starts to enjoy her reimagined life - until her old one comes calling. Now Carly has to decidwe what parts of each world she wants to patchwork in...and how much she's willing to leave to fate.

The Fortune Quilt is a quick, easy read that is a lot of fun. It deals with serious issues, but never takes its eyes off the fact that it is, at its core, a light-hearted and enjoyable novel. I liked this treatment; it never downplayed the gravity of Carly's situations but it kept the book from becoming heavy or overdramatic.

My favorite part of The Fortune Quilt was Carly's slow transformation as a character. At the beginning of the book, she is basically living in denial, refusing to acknowledge when she is hurt or upset. Gradually, Carly begins to express herself and opens up to Brandy, Will, and the other people she meets. They help to draw her out and transform her into a person who has room within herself to believe in the predictive power of Brandy's quilts.

Carly's mother was harder for me to swallow. I didn't like the way Carly's family turned on her, especially after she had raised her two younger sisters after their mother's departure. I would have hoped they could have been more understanding of her aversion to their mother's return. That being said, because Carly grew so much over the course of the book, she was able to make decisions that prove her transformation into a more understanding and open woman (MUCH more understanding than I think I could have been).

I enjoyed The Fortune Quilt very much; it was quick and easy, perfect for when you don't want to get too bogged down in a book. I'd recommend it to any chick lit fans.