Book
The thread collectors : a novel / Shaunna J. Edwards and Alyson Richman.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781525804823
- Physical Description: 370 pages ; 24 cm
- Publisher: Toronto, Ontario : Graydon House, [2022]
- Copyright: ©2022
Content descriptions
| General Note: | Includes reader's guide. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Women > Fiction. United States > History > Civil War, 1861-1865 > Women > Fiction. New Orleans (La.) > History > Civil War, 1861-1865 > Fiction. |
| Genre: | Historical fiction. |
Available copies
- 5 of 5 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Castlegar Public Library.
Holds
- 1 current hold with 5 total copies.
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castlegar Public Library | FIC EDW (Text) | 35146002286789 | Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2022 June #1
Veteran writer Richman partners with debut author Edwards in a Civil Warâera novel about the converging paths of two families. In New Orleans, Stella, a Black woman, says goodbye to her beloved, William, as he leaves to join the Union army. In New York City, Lily, a Jewish woman, contributes to the abolitionist movement and pens letters to her husband, Jacob, a Union army musician. While serving, William and Jacob form a friendship over music, and the lives of all four are then drawn together. The Thread Collectors pushes back against simple Civil War narratives and spotlights historical realities, including the abysmal treatment of Black Union soldiers, Southern antisemitism, and Northern racism. While William and Jacob fight these injustices on the ground, Stella and Lily cleverly use thread as their own means of fighting back with quiet but powerful courage. This book, with its distinct prose, quick chapters, and dynamic characters, provides a stirring narrative and much-needed perspective in Civil War fiction. Copyright 2022 Booklist Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2022 June #2
This collaboration by longtime friends Edwards and Richman draws on the authors' Black and Jewish family histories to build an expressly uplifting Civil War fiction. The novel begins in 1863 New Orleans, showcasing the forbidden but abiding love between musically gifted William, a classically trained flutist who's enslaved, and Stella, who lives technically free as the kept woman of William's current owner. With Stella's aid, William escapes to join the Union Army as a member of the Louisiana Native Guard. Meanwhile, in New York, trombonist and composer Jacob has been inspired by his wife, Lily, a suffragette and abolitionist, to join the Union forces on moral grounds. The novel balances three intertwining narratives: Pregnant with a child who could be William's or his master's, Stella struggles to survive in Union-controlled New Orleans, where food is scarce and Confederate insurrection a constant threat; William and Jacob experience wartime atrocities while their unlikely friendship deepens through their music connection; and in New York, Lily devotes herself to the Union cause with genteel moral certainty until she ventures South in search of Jacob and faces her naïveté about the war's cost. Given that African Americans in the South had everything to gain or lose in this war, it is no surprise that Stella's and William's segments are the most compelling; the writing about New Orleans also creates a sensual, specific sense of place missing elsewhere. Lily reads like a mouthpiece for enlightened concepts, even in her love letters. There is no romantic chemistry between her and Jacob, who remains an undeveloped cipher. What should be an interesting twist, his discomfort as a Jewish outsider in the Union ranks, barely resonates, while his bonding with William comes too easily. All four protagonists are more noble symbols than characters, and key plot pointsâincluding Stella's stitched maps and Jacob's estrangement from his Confederate brotherâborder on Civil War story clichés. Well-intentioned but overly familiar. Copyright Kirkus 2022 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2022 March
In 1943 Honolulu, cryptanalysist Isabel Cooper is concerned when the only other female codebreaker at Station Hypo goes missing; perhaps
Copyright 2022 Library Journal.The Codebreaker's Secret is uncovered in 1965 when a rookie reporter and a crusty old-timer discover a skeleton near the ever-so-fancy Mauna Kea Beach Hotel in Ackerman's (75,000-copy paperback and 10,000-copy hardcover first printing). In Burton'sThe House of Fortune , a companion to theNew York Times best-sellingThe Miniaturist , 18-year-old Thea Brandt hides out in 1700s Amsterdam's playhouses from her family's money quarrels, refusal to discuss her mother's death, and fear of the mysterious, soul-capturing Miniaturist (200,000-copy first printing). In Carey's 1950s Britain, ruled by a triumphant Reich that ranks women from the gorgeous (and advantaged) Gelis to those past childbearing good for domestic drudgery and living inWidowland , a Geli named Rose Ransom gets involved with subversion against the government. Narrated by a small-potatoes lesbian gossip columnist, Charyn'sBig Red reimagines the entwined careers of Rita Hayworth and Orson Welles. WithThe Thread Collectors , debuter Edwards joins theUSA TODAY best-selling Richman in a story paralleling New Orleans-based Black woman Stella, who embroiders intricate maps for enslaved men intending to flee and join the Union army, with New York-based white, Jewish, abolitionist Lily, who rolls bandages for Union soldiers and wants to join her husband fighting in Louisiana (125,000-copy paperback and 10,000-copy hardcover). In debuter Sivak'sMademoiselle Revolution , Sylvie de Rosiers, the biracial daughter of a rich white planter and an enslaved Black woman, flees her privileged life in Haiti during the revolution and ends up in Paris amid another revolution, befriending Robespierre and his strong-willed mistress, Cornélie. - LJ Express Reviews : LJ Express Reviews
In 1943 Honolulu, cryptanalysist Isabel Cooper is concerned when the only other female codebreaker at Station Hypo goes missing; perhaps
Copyright 2022 LJExpress.The Codebreaker's Secret is uncovered in 1965 when a rookie reporter and a crusty old-timer discover a skeleton near the ever-so-fancy Mauna Kea Beach Hotel in Ackerman's (75,000-copy paperback and 10,000-copy hardcover first printing). In Burton'sThe House of Fortune , a companion to theNew York Times best-sellingThe Miniaturist , 18-year-old Thea Brandt hides out in 1700s Amsterdam's playhouses from her family's money quarrels, refusal to discuss her mother's death, and fear of the mysterious, soul-capturing Miniaturist (200,000-copy first printing). In Carey's 1950s Britain, ruled by a triumphant Reich that ranks women from the gorgeous (and advantaged) Gelis to those past childbearing good for domestic drudgery and living inWidowland , a Geli named Rose Ransom gets involved with subversion against the government. Narrated by a small-potatoes lesbian gossip columnist, Charyn'sBig Red reimagines the entwined careers of Rita Hayworth and Orson Welles. WithThe Thread Collectors , debuter Edwards joins theUSA TODAY best-selling Richman in a story paralleling New Orleans-based Black woman Stella, who embroiders intricate maps for enslaved men intending to flee and join the Union army, with New York-based white, Jewish, abolitionist Lily, who rolls bandages for Union soldiers and wants to join her husband fighting in Louisiana (125,000-copy paperback and 10,000-copy hardcover). In debuter Sivak'sMademoiselle Revolution , Sylvie de Rosiers, the biracial daughter of a rich white planter and an enslaved Black woman, flees her privileged life in Haiti during the revolution and ends up in Paris amid another revolution, befriending Robespierre and his strong-willed mistress, Cornélie.
