A SINGLE THREAD
Marie Bostwick
Kensington
Fiction
ISBN: 9780758222572
Marie Bostwick’s talented skills as a writer take on new focus as she sets her latest book in contemporary times. Her backdrops are a small town, its community, a quilting shop and circle, and four female characters. Evelyn Dixon, whose unexpected divorce has shaken her up, is driving to New England from Texas to see the fall season. She stops in New Bern, Connecticut, to spend the night and while walking around town steps into an alley. As she looks into an abandoned building, she imagines what this space might have in store for her. With grit and determination, she decides to move there and open a quilting shop.
Evelyn meets a local restaurant owner, Charlie Donnelly, who becomes a wonderful supporter of her and her shop, Cobbled Court Quilts. As she talks with him about her goals for the establishment, she realizes that she hopes to create a community for women. And she finds that the perfect way to begin doing so is to host an event that fall. Women will come together to piece a block that will become part of a larger quilt, which will then be auctioned off to benefit breast cancer research.
Evelyn designs her own quilt block, which she calls “Basket of Blessings.” What she doesn’t know as she puts her heart and soul into this endeavor is that it is about to have an even more personal meaning than she ever imagined. The day before the festivities, she is diagnosed with breast cancer.
While an exhausted Evelyn shows three women an appliqué technique after the event (which was very successful), she pricks her finger and blurts out her diagnosis. Margo Matthews, with her philosophy of “being put on earth to help one another,” enlists the other two ladies to help Evelyn. Pretty soon all are involved in Evelyn’s shop, her cancer treatment and each other’s lives.
All of these new friends are working through their own struggles. Abigail Burgess Wynne, the wealthiest woman in town, is widowed and alone. Though thought of as aloof, Abigail is respected due to her donations to the community. Her niece, Liza, is mourning the death of her mother, who was also Abigail’s sister. She is a talented artist and comes to New Bern when she quits college and has been caught shoplifting. For 13 months, her aunt is responsible for her and she must stay out of trouble as ordered by the local judge. Margo has just been downsized out of her job and is hoping to find a new one.
As a way of saying thank you to each of them, Evelyn forms a quilting circle for her new friends. As they work together on a quilt, their friendship grows and changes each of them. Liza begins to recognize her own talent as an artist. Margo, the organizer and marketer, keeps the store going. And Abigail finally talks with Liza about her mother and their past together.
However, Evelyn’s cancer diagnosis requires more surgery. What will happen to the shop? Her friends help out. Her son arrives from his high-tech job, and even her ex-husband makes an appearance. However, the small town and its surrounding population may not be enough to keep her business going.
Just as quilters patch, design and sew, and select a pattern to make a quilt, so do the characters in this novel stitch their lives into new patterns. The new design for each of their lives makes A SINGLE THREAD one of hope, joy and enduring friendships.
--- Reviewed by Jennifer McCord
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