Soft as Snowflakes by Joan Donaldson

Summary

When shifting sand dunes smother Singapore, Michigan, Bonnie Lyle flees from one calamity after another until she falls into the arms of an eye-catching lumberjack, Stephen Bernard. From the moment the pert Miss Lyle walked into the Douglas Basket Factory, Stephen knew he must woo her. When he watches Bonnie lead her fellow mill girls to confront the licentious Boss Man, Stephen learns of Bonnie’s feisty nature. Soon, Bonnie discovers that Stephen’s yearning to establish a flower and fruit tree nursery matches her passion to stitch blossoms on quilt blocks. When Bonnie accompanies an elderly woman to Baltimore, her affections are confused by a dashing young lawyer. But the pull of Lake Michigan returns her heart to the lumberjack who longs to make the world a more beautiful place.

Book Club Questions for Soft as Snowflakes

  • Have you made an applique quilt, especially one that focuses on red and green colors? Or have you pieced quilt blocks?
  • Bonnie experienced an ecological disaster. How could the settlers prevented the sand dunes from shifting and burying Singapore? What could folks do during our time to preserve our lakeshore dunes?
  • Gardeners love to visit nurseries and garden centers. What did Stephen have to do in order to create his nursery?
  • Have you ever experienced a boss like Bonnie’s? How can women support each other in that kind of situation?
  • Today, most fruit is packed in plastic “clamshells” or cardboard pints and quarts. Yet some growers have returned to wooden strawberry baskets. What did you learn about the process of creating small wooden baskets?
  • In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many widowed women ran boarding houses to provide an income. What would be the pros and cons of living in a boarding house? Would you like to run a boarding house?