Rating: 
Summary: Good read
Review: Well I have to say I liked this book really well until the very end. It was a little confusing in the end and I did have to go back and reread it. It was a good book though and I am glad I read it. Not as good as Alice's Tulips but still worth the time.
Rating: 
Summary: Hardtimes in 1930's Kansas...
Review: I'm fond of stores written in this era, and found this lovely story to be well written and endearing. It's a touching story about friends and shared experiences. Their friendships are as interwoven as the fabrics they share in each other's quilts. As the quilts are completed, so are some impossible events! The crops are drying out and everyone's out of work, but the quilters support and protect one another through the good times and bad.
Rating: 
Summary: Depression-era Kansas women honor friendship via quilting
Review: Suffused with tender compassion for common women, "The Persian Pickle Club" celebrates the quiet strength and genuine decency Depression-era women generated for and with each other. Set in the rural backwaters of Harveyville, Kansas, Sandra Dallas' novel deftly interweaves a fascinating set of dynamics: a women's quilting club and an unsolved homicide. The Persian Pickle Club provides a haven for overworked and Depression-stunned farm women; their quilts represent the tenacity of friendship, the endurance of community, and the prevalence of beauty in a part of the country that suffers terribly from economic want. The unsolved homicide permits the author to introduce a citified "outsider" to the club; her defiant eccentricities endear her to the friendship-starved protagonist, Queenie Bean, and alienate her from the stodgy regularity of other club members. The unsolved homicide tests the limits of community and drives both the protagonist and her newfound friend, Rita, to discover the truth to the case and the depths of their relationship.Sandra Dallas is at her best in her evocative descriptions of the impact of the Great Depression on what was once a cohesive, optimistic community. The certainties of rural life begin to dissolve as unemployed drifters regularly appear on the fringes of community life. Queenie's big-hearted husband, Grover, slowly emerges as the conscience of the novel, welcoming those down-and-outers with sensitivity and honorable charity. The author's characterizations of the Joe Blue Massie family, a destitute quartet who come to share the land with Queenie and Grover, ring with authenticity. Ms. Dallas also treats the issues of community conscience, social responsibility, female frustration and shared destiny with considerable dignity. Ironically, it is the actual descriptions of the quility club which ring somewhat hollow. What should have been the strength of the novel and that which other reviewers have praised appeared to be the weakest aspect of "The Pesian Pickle Club." The ensemble of women who gathered weekly never seemed to gain much dimension. Readers may well find themselves aswirl in a sea of characters, all of whom are decent enough, but most of whom lack depth and complexity. To borrow a metaphor from the novel, the stitching of the characters is clumsy and amateurish. Given the power and sophistication of Dallas' treatment of theme and setting, this flaw is all the more noticeable. Gracefully written and driven by a fascinating friendship between the polarities of city-county, naivete-sophistication, "The Persian Pickle Club" is a capable novel. It simply lacks depth in characterization, and that flaw retards the novel from attaining its honorable goal of not only lauding female friendship, but fully explaining it.
Rating:
Summary: A Comforting Read in Troubled Times
Review: I happened to being reading this book during the time of the WTC disaster. With the whole world rocking around us, I found such comfort and peace cuddling up each night and soaking up the sensations of Queenie's afternoon quilting sessions. Through the dark days of the depression, these strong women found comfort through routine, beauty in simplicity and inner peace from the rhymthic flow of their needles through the fabric. The fact that a mystery becomes a part of all of this only enhances the story. I guess one of the nicest things about the story is that it reminds us that we too need to pick up the threads of our lives in difficult times and that the mundane activities of daily living are to be all the more appreciated due to the uncertainties of life. The bleak atmosphere of the depression comes alive with the colorful personalities that the author has created.
Rating:
Summary: Don't let the odd title put you off
Review: An excellent author will lead you to their other novels, as Ms. Dallas did for me.
The Persian Pickle Club is a 1930 depression era quilt club, but the soul of the club are the women of the town in Harveyville, Kansas. The club is a friendship foundation, support group and charity network that goes beyond these implications. We are allowed an extremely poignant glimpse into the lives of these women, and the unique pecking order, so to speak that has been established within the context of the club. While somewhat annoying, certain characters that make up the group will certainly grate on your tolerance. But a subtle understanding is promoted as one continues to unravel the secrets and relationships that the group protects. Friendships within the group mean everything to these women, and the sacrifices they go through on behalf of each other is truly wonderful.
Rating: 
Summary: Insipid, juvenile junk--zero stars
Review: I just read this book for a book club, otherwise I never would have finished it. This book is nothing but insipid pulp. There are no discussion worthy avenues of thought presented by the author. The main character, Queenie, is shallow and immature, and not worth getting to know. The characters are supposed to be suffering during the depression, but everyone has plenty to eat, money for gas, and all strangers that come to town are taken care of -- very unrealistic. The author tries to shock us with a relevation about the character's quilting club in the last quarter of the book, but I only laughed at the absurdity of the story-line.
Rating:
Summary: What A Great "Read"!!
Review: I picked this book up at a local bookstore on recommendation of one of the staff members there. She wrote that "if you like Maeve Benchley you will love this book" and I DID. In fact I found it hard to put down. The story is set in depression time in a small Kansas town (I grew up in Kansas) and is about the farm women who live there and the quilting club they belong to. The author did a great job of making these people come alive and I hated to see the book end. I wish there were a sequel!
Rating: 
Summary: Mixed Feelings
Review: When I finished this novel, I couldn't decide how I felt about it. From other reviews most people LOVED it, giving it 5 stars or a few rated it very POOR. Neither rating captured my sentiments. Two other reviews did capture it's essense-NO FRIED GREEN TOMATOES and another that explained-it's not a bad novel and if you're looking for a quick, light, southern cozy/light mystery read this is for you. I don't believe it's an "If you loved Divine Secrets, you'll love this." I don't think it's as good as the Ya-Ya's. And it did cross my mind that the story is very similar to Fried Green Tomatoes. If you take it for what it is-a quick, light read, you won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Delightfully light storytelling...
Review: The Pickle is a delightful story about women in small-town, depression-era America. The thing that makes these women so loveable is that they are so committed to each other, despite not always "liking" each other! The Pickle is a book about quilting, friendship, marriage, hard work and hardship, giving to others even when you don't have a lot yourself, and understanding the blessedness of being able to give! There's even a whodunit mystery thrown in to more powerfully connect these women. Really, just a delightful read...
Rating:
Summary: one of my favorite books ever
Review: I rarely give books as gifts because I feel that reading material is a highly personal thing. However I have given this book to women friends a number of times. The phrase "breathe life into characters" is trite - but so applicable in this case. Ms Dallas makes me long to sit and stitch with these women from Kansas who go through good times and bad together, always together. The one thing that these women could count on was one another. The novel has a mystery, charming characters, and a interesting setting. The writing flows so easily that each page is a pleasure to read. I can't speak highly enough of it.
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