The Thread Collectors - Book Review

 

The Thread Collectors

Shauna J. Edwards  and  Alyson Richman

4.5 stars

Pub date Aug 30, 2022

 

 

 

 

Four wonderful characters share their lives with us in this Civil War setting. Stella and William, their love story set amidst the brutality of slavery in New Orleans; Lily and Jacob, also in love in New York and separated during the war. Each showing their courage and determination to reunite using their individual skills.

Be sure to read the Author’s notes, this writing duo pulls from their individual family stories to write of life as Black and Jewish outsiders in a white world. Their insight brought the emotional impact needed to tell this story.

'He knew he wore his background quietly, never fully revealing himself, but his sense of vulnerability and foreigness was always with him, a trait born into him from his first breath.' (Jacob)

Stella’s embroidered maps, the love of music that binds the men, and Lily’s determination to 'not just sit and wait' brings these four unlikely people together at a time in history when it was not welcomed. As each thread was woven with hope, so too in this book, each character was a piece of the other's salvation to a better life.

Although, the four characters are widely different to look at, they all were strong and decent people. You want them to succeed and have happy lives. I would love to know what happened to them after the last page. (Hint to you, authors!)

It is a difficult book to read for its dark truths but cannot be put down for the hope and promise it instills. Although each character encounters deep loss, each one also shows the reader a better side of humanity than what they experienced in the pages.

This book will ignite some deeper thought on each of our histories especially if you are an immigrant, it certainly added to my understanding of the Civil War (I am Canadian), and will also stir deep-rooted emotions if you are a descendent of this time period.

Thank you #NetGalley #HarlequinTradePublishing and #GraydonHouse for the wise words found here in the early viewing of this book. Opinions are my own.

My next read is The Diamond Eye, Kate Quinn. Have you read it?


 

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