The Little Teashop on Main

Finished June 15 

The Little Teashop on Main by Jodi Thomas

This small town novel is set around three female friends. The book begins with a foreword that is set after the action of the novel. A man is watching two girls have a tea party at a gravesite. The story proper begins with their first meeting of the three girls when they were six just before starting school and had a tea party. It was also the day that Shannon's mother left, never to return. 

The story then jumps to the point where the girls are starting their lives after high school. Shannon is following in her father's footsteps and going to a military college in Colorado Springs. Another friend of the girls, Jack Hutchinson, the man we saw in the foreword is also there a year ahead of Shannon. He was also inspired by her father Mack. Jack's family has a construction business and his two older brothers have gone into the business, but Jack has a passion for flight that takes him in a different direction. Shannon is focused on technology and learning the IT side of military work. Zoe is headed to New York City to attend dance school and try to make it as a dancer and actress. Zoe was raised by her mom Alex, who, several years ago, started her own bakery business in town, living in a small apartment above the shop. She's made the shop a success, but has aspects of the job that she isn't as enthused about like wedding and birthday cakes. Emily is still a shy and uncertain girl, but she's defied her mother enough to head off to a small Christian college. There is also a shy young man, Fuller, who has an interest in Emily's welfare and tries to keep an eye on her. 

There are several romances in this book, but the underlying story is of the friendship of the girls and of the closeness of Zoe and Alex, and Shannon and Mack. As single parent households of only children, they both have a strong bond that is now a remote one as the girls head out to start their lives and there are some lonely times for them over the next few years. The story takes us through the four years of Shannon's schooling, and lets us see how their lives develop during that time and into the next step in their lives. We already know that one girl will not survive more than a few years, but it takes us to near the end to see who that is. 

This was a feel good story for the most part, with some sad episodes. It speaks though to the lastingness of true friendship, friendship that survives distance and time to remain true.