The Thread Collectors - Shaunna J. Edwards & Alyson Richman

Authors: Shaunna J. Edwards & Alyson Richman

Genre: Historical Fiction

Rating: 4 stars.

In a Nutshell: Not a typical historical fiction set during the Civil War. This one covers perspectives not commonly seen – that of Jews and Blacks. The #OwnVoices factor adds to the charm of the story. Expected something a little different, but still enjoyed what I got.

Story Synopsis:

1863.

In New Orleans, Stella, a Creole of mixed heritage, uses her skill with the needle to stitch ingenious maps to help enslaved men run from their hopeless destiny. Her lover William – a Black slave and an expert musician - is one such man, hoping to be freed of his shackles by fighting in the Civil War from the Union side.

In New York City, Lily, a Jewish woman with strong ideas on abolition, does her best to ensure that the Union soldiers get adequate supplies. Her husband Jacob, who has enlisted with the Union Army as a musician, is an unhappy soldier as his own brother believes in the Confederacy.

How the tracks of these two couples come together is what you need to read and find out.

The story comes to us in a limited third person narration of these four characters.

Where the book worked for me:

👏 The unusual perspective is the highlight of the story. We rarely see historical fiction exploring the war from the perspective of Jewish or Black soldiers, or of the women in their lives.

👏 An equal novelty was in the way sewing is used throughout the story, and how it stitches the narrative of all four characters into one colourful quilt. Whether it is through the maps that Stella makes for the escaping slaves with the limited material she has at her disposal, or through the sewing circle which Lily is a part of, making helpful items to keep the soldiers warmer and safer, or even through the way their efforts help the Union soldiers, the ‘thread collectors’ is a title that works for this book in multifarious ways.

👏 The storyline is quite complex, but the authors manage to pull it off to a great extent.

👏 The characters are sketched quite realistically. The title might make you feel that this is a women's story all the way, that the male characters have only limited secondary roles. But this isn’t true, especially in the first half.

👏 The plot explores many impactful themes such as racial discrimination, gender discrimination, disparity in the fortunes of family members due to either their beliefs or their status, and the impact of war. It also explores how determination and drive can change supposed destiny.

👏 Alyson Richman is the USA Today bestselling and #1 international bestselling author of several historical novels. Shaunna J. Edwards makes her debut with this book. These two are friends in real life, and are of the same racial background as the characters they created (A Jew and a Black respectively.) Their collaboration on this work is thus filled with a strong flavour of authenticity. I especially loved the insight into the Creole belief system as seen from Stella’s part of the story.

👏 The authors’ note indicates how the two authors used their own background to make the story authentic. There are many historical events and persons woven into this fictional narrative, and their note elaborates on this.

Where the book could have worked better for me:

⚠ Though the narrative is set mainly in 1863, there are quite a few flashbacks to establish the backstories of the key characters. This will be a real test of your memory. To me, some of the backstories worked, but some were superfluous.

⚠ A couple of the events in the second half were too coincidental to be believable. Yeah okay, fiction is fiction, but when the overall tone is so realistic and spot-on, such anomalies stand out.

⚠ The blurb reveals one event that happens much later in the book. It also makes the story seem like that of Stella and Lisa, rather than of all four characters.

⚠ The pacing is a bit topsy-turvy. The ending seems very rushed, though I must give it credit for being bittersweet than an OTT HEA.

All in all, the book has a lot going for it. As an #OwnVoices story inspired by the two authors’ own backgrounds and their friendship, this historical fiction has a lot to offer to its readers. Though the pacing and the backstories could have been better structured, the book still offers tremendous content and is definitely recommended.

Trigger Note: As a slave and war narrative, the book contains several gruesome scenes. Not for the faint-hearted, though whatever happened is definitely based in the truth.

My thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing, Graydon House, and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Thread Collectors”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.