My Year in Reading

According to Goodreads, I have read almost 200 books this year! I had meant to read fewer books than last year--bit ended up reading more!

Here is a breakdown of my reading, not presented in any particular order except category. You can find my reviews by typing the book title in the search bar on the right side of the blog homepage. Some of the books I read in 2018 will be published in 2019. I have marked them with a *.

My reading was still heavy on current political and social issues, represented by nonfiction and fiction choices.

American History & Politics
My choices favored my interest in Revolutionary War, WWI and WWII eras, and the 1960s. 
Rush by Stephen Fried
The First Ladies of the Republic by Jeanne E. Abrams
Frank & Al by Terry Golway
In the Hurricane's Eye by Nathaniel Philbrick
LBJ's 1968 by Kyle Longley
The Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy by Tim Tate
The Hidden White House by Robert Klara
The Man Who Walked Backwards by Ben Montgomery
Wasn't That a Time by Jesse Jarnow
A Force So Swift by Kevin Peraino

American Inventors and Business
The great creative thinkers and the influence of business and industry on society
Tesla Inventor of the Modern by Richard Munson
Atom Bomb to Santa Claus by Trevor Homer
Wanamaker's Temple by Nicole C. Kirk
American Advertising Cookbooks by Christina Ward
Janesville by Amy Goldstein
Voices From the Rust Belt by Anne Trubeck

True Adventure
The girl in me loves a story of survival against the odds
Adrift by Brian Murphy
White Darkness by David Grann
To the Edges of the Earth by Edward J. Larson

Books on the Current Political Climate
Some pretty scary stuff!
Fire and Fury by Michael Wolfe
Fear by Bob Woodward
How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky
The Splintering of the American Mind by William Eggerton
Identity by Frances Fukuyama

Books on Inclusion and Justice
Immigration, Civil Rights for all, economic parity
Lighting the Fires of Freedom by Janet Dewart Bell
A Bigger Table by John Pavlovitch
The Opposite of Hate by Sally Kohn
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
Patriot Number One in Chinatown by Lauren Hilgers\
Give People Money by Anne Lowry
Journeys An American Story by Andrew Tisch

British History
Queen Victoria by Lucy Worsley

Memoirs & Autobiographies
Inspiring stories!
The Sun Does Shine by Ray Hinton
Song in a Weary Throat by Pauli Murray
Together at the Table by Karen Oliveto
Tomorrow Will Be Different by Sarah McBride
Surrendering My Ordination by J. Philip Wogaman
The Right to Be Cold by Sheila Watt-Cloutier
My Dead Parents by Anya Yurchyshyn
Call Me American by Abdi Nohr Ifrin
Calypso by David Sedaris
Becoming by Michelle Obama

Environmentalism
The Poisoned City by Anna Clark
Overrun by Andrew Reeves*
The Water Will Come by Jeff Goodell

LGBT Themed Fiction
Southernmost by Silas House
Tin Man by Sarah Winman
A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne
Sugar Run by Mesha Maren*

Multicultural Fiction
Many are historical fiction. All offer insight into the human experience.
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
I Have Lost My Way by Gaye Foreman
Gateway to the Moon by Mary Morris
Waking Lions by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
The Mercy Seat by Elizabeth Hartley Winthrop
The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
The House of Rougeaux by Jenny Jaeckel
Half Gods by Akil Kumarasamy
There There by Tommy Orange
We Hope for Better Things by Erin Bartels
All the Lives We Never Lived by Anuradha Roy
The Tyre by C. J. Dubois
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Historical Fiction About Women
The eternal and timeless experience of being female.
Learning to See* by Elsie Hooper
The Falconer* by Dana Czapnik
The Last Year of the War* by Susan Meissner
The Only Woman in the Room* by Marie Benedict
Marlena by Julie Buntin
The Latecomers by Helen Klein Ross
Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris
A Cloud in the Shape of a Girl by Jean Thompson
Transcription by Kate Atkinson
A View of the Empire by Sunset by Caryl Phillips
Invitation to a Bonfire by Adrienne Celt
The Only Story by Julian Barnes
The River by Starlight by Ellen Notbohm
The Red Address Book by Sofia Lundberg
Island of Sea Women* by Lisa See

Historical Fiction
Vividly bringing the past to life through fiction.
The Winter Soldier by Daniel Mason
So Much Life Left Over by Louis de Bernieres
The Wreckage of Eden by Norman Lock (a story about Emily Dickinson)
A Long Island Story by Rick Gekoski (set in the McCarthy era)
Warlight by Michael Ondaatje
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
The Italian Party by Christina Lynch
Dust by Mark Thompson
I Will Send Rain by Rae Meadows
West by Carys Davies
The Perilous Adventures of the Cowboy King by Jerome Charyn* (A novel about Teddy Roosevelt)
Sea Chase by John Braddock (Young readers fiction about John Quincy Adams)
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

Historical Fiction with Fantasy Elements
The Cassandra* by Sharma Shields
The Bird King* by G. Willow Wilson
Ahab's Return by Jeffrey Ford
A Boy in His Winter by Norman Lock
Farewell Summer by Ray Bradbury
Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami
Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield

Fantasy
Circe by Madeline Miller
The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

Science Fiction
Unholy Land by Tidhar Lavie
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keys

Mysteries and Suspense
The Garden of Blue Roses by Michael Barsa
An Anonymous Girl* by Greer Henricks and Sarah Pekkanen
Bring Me Back by A. B. Paris
Jack Was Here by Christopher Bardsley
The Ancient Nine by Ian Smith
Siracusa by Delia Ephron
The Marsh King's Daughter by Karen Dionne
Truly, Madly Guilty by Lianne Moriarity
Feared by Lisa Scottoline
After Anna by Lisa Scottoline
Dead Bomb Bingo Ray by Jeff Johnson
Death in Paris by Emelia Bernhard
Mystery in White by J. Jefferson Farjeon
Marne by Winston Graham

Literary Fiction
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Tinkers* by Paul Harding
Nothing But the Night* by John Williams
Laurentian Divide by Sarah Stonich
Vacationland by Sarah Stonich
Virgil Wander by Leif Enger
Florence Gordon by Brian Morton
Ohio by Stephen Markey
A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash
The Rain Watcher by Tatiana de Rosnay
Meet Me At the Museum by Anne Youngson
A Collar for Cerebus by Matt Stanley
All We Ever Wanted by Ellen Giffin
The Red Thread by Ann Hood
How to Walk Away by Katherine Center
Hard Cider by Barbara Stark-Nemon
The Family Tabor by Cherie Wolas
Clock Dance by Anne Tyler
The Dependents by Katherine Dion
The Italian Teacher by Tom Rachman
Laura and Emma by Kate Greathead
Maria on the Moon by Louise Beech
Stoner by John Williams
The Promise Between Us by Barbara Claypool White
The Mystery by Matthew Mackintosh

Retellings of Classics
Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
Mary B by Katherine B. Chen

Humorous Novels
Limelight by Amy Poepple
#HockeyStrong by Erika Roebuck
High Noon in Hollywood by Warren Adler
Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny
The Norma Conquest by Warren Adler

Short Stories
You Think It, I'll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld
Collected Stories by Susan Sontag
We Are Gathered by Jamie Weisman
A Beautiful Place to Die by Sam Bigglesworth

Humor
Lessons From Lucy by Dave Barry
I See Life Through Rose Colored Glasses by Lisa Scottoline

Nonfiction Inspiration
The Dark Interval by Rainer Maria Rilke
A Glad Obedience* by Walter Brueggemann

Poetry
The Flame by Leonard Cohen

Books About Books and Writers and Artists
Meg Jo Beth Amy by Anne Rioux Boyd
J. D. Salinger and the Nazis by Eberhard Alsen
Whistler's Mother by Daniel Southerland
The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve by Stephen Greenblatt
Louisa At the Front Lines* by Samantha Seiple
Jane Austen for Kids* by Nancy Sanders
Guilty Thing by Frances Wilson
The Library Book by Susan Orlean
Simply Austen by Joan Klingel Ray
The Man Who Wrote the Perfect Novel by Charles J. Shields
The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve by Stephen Greenblatt


Books About Quilts
Pattern books and quilt histories
An American Quilt by Rachel May
Southern Quilts by Mary Kerr
Landscape Quilts by Ann Loveless
Oh Scrap by Lissa Alexander
Tilda Sewing by Heart
Pin Pals by Carrie Nelson
Quilt Big by Jemima Fiendt
My First Book of Sewing
Whimsical Wool Applique by Kim Schaefer
Creating Art Quilts with Panels by Joyce Hughes
Paint By Number Quilts by Kerry Foster
A Splendid Sampler 2 by Pat Sloan
Pat Sloan's Teach Me to Machine Quilt
Intuitive Color and Design
Allie Aller's Stained Glass Quilts
Stitches from the Yuletide by Kathy Schmitz
Patchwork Loves Embroidery Too
Red and White Quilts
Antique Needlework Tools by Dawn Cook Ronnigen
Art Quilts Unfolding

Genealogy
The Researchers Guide to American Genealogy

Art
Charlie Harper's Birds and Words
The Refrain of Thomas Cole*

Books I did not finish
Sight by Jesse Greengrass
Boomer 1 by Daniel Torday
Princess: The Early Life of Queen Elizabeth II
by Jane Dismore
Imagining Shakespeare's Wife: The Afterlife of Anne Hathaway by Katherine West Scheil
The King's Favorite by John Vance

The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

The Winter of the Witch is Katherine Arden's third book in the Winternight Trilogy. I reviewed the first books The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower here. 

I was quite taken by the 14th c Rus' setting, the Russian fairy-tale-inspired characters, and the female heroine journey. Arden studied Russian in Moscow, so reading the books the reader is immersed in Russian history and traditional culture. 

The series, in essence, is about a young girl growing up, discovering her abilities and place in the world, at odds with societal expectations. Historical Russia becomes a fairy-tale kingdom where both men and devils must fight to survive.

The Bear and the Nightingale 

In 14th c Russia, Vasya, who can talk to horses and hear the household spirits, dares to claim the right to make her own fate. Against her family's desires and the demands of society and church, she resists the life laid out for her. Even the pagan gods, whose power is slowly fading, try to harness her for their good but she will not be chattel to anyone. She fights the evil spirits that threaten her family, protected by the Winter King Morozko. When the spirit of Death in the form of a monstrous bear attacks their community, Vasya is blamed and labeled a witch by the priest Konstantin. Her choices limited to marry, enter a convent, or be killed as a witch, Vasya dresses as a boy and goes out into the world with a horse from Morozko, the unworldly stead Solovey, or Nightingale.

The Girl in the Tower

In the cruel winter, dressed as a boy, Vasya flees her home where she was driven out as a witch. After battling a Tartar army she finds refuge in a city where she is reunited with her brother Sasha, the valiant monk-warrior and childhood friend of the ruling prince. Her exploits impress the prince and she leads his band to track down the Tartar marauders. Vasya accompanies the retinue to Moscow and is reunited with her sister. Also in Moscow is the tormented Konstintine, the priest whose misguided faith drove him to persecute Vasya in her hometown. The story includes a twisted plot of false identities, a heritage of women who can communicate with the spirit world, and a riveting epic battle.

The Winter of the Witch

This installment brings the epic story to an exciting climax as the Rus kingdoms are threatened by the Mongol Golden Horde, and the chyerti fight for survival as they are forgotten as Christianity spreads. 

Vasya learns she is descended from a line of witches and pledges to help the chyerti coexist with humanity. Central to the continuing story is Vasya's monk-warrior brother Sasha, their sister Olga and her daughter, the nascent witch Marya, the Rus' Prince, and the misguided Christian priest, Konstantin, whose lust for power overrides his faith. 

Vasya's demon mentor Morozko The Winter King, a god of death, and his brother Medved, the Bear, god of chaos, have been enemies. To protect her Rus' kinfolk, Vasya's task is to bridge their gap and make them ally with humans.

In the Author's Note, Arden states that from the start she planned to end the trilogy at the 1380 Battle of Kulikovo on the Don River between the Grand Prince Dmitrii Ivanovich and the Tatar temnik Mamai. There was a historical warrior-monk who battled a Tartar warrior as in the novel, and the Grand Prince did trade places with a boyar so he could fight incognito.

I sped through The Winter of the Witch, a compelling read. There are two epic battles. As I noted in earlier reviews, the myth of the female hero continues as Vasya receives help and magical helpers. I noted repetition in the story, stock images or phrases, in the style of Epic poetry. 

The series would appeal to readers who like strong female characters battling for freedom and those with an interest in fairy tales, Russian folklore, and fantasy. 

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

The Winter of the Witch: A Novel
by Katherine Arden
Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine/Del Rey
Pub Date 08 Jan 2019 
ISBN: 9781101885994
PRICE: $28.00 (USD)

2018 Quilts

For once I have more finishes than starts! Only because I took 8 quilt tops to be long arm quilted.

Starts include:

This quilt made with the Thistle fabric line animal prints. I decided to add an outer border, so I need to make more blocks.

Redwork blocks of Little Red Riding Hood based on a 1919 pattern. I have fabrics to set them together.

I started this A Tisket a Tasket quilt from Bunny Hill and have nearly finished hand quilting it--then it needs embellishments.

I finished making 12 blocks for my yellow roses quilt, which still need to be put together.

I started my Bronte sisters quilt. It now has a lot of flowers. 

I made several more blocks for my Great Gatsby quilt.

Finishes include:

I made this wall hanging based on Stitches from the Harvest embroidery patterns 

I just finished hand quilting this Peter Pan applique quilt. The Riley Blake Neverland fabric line inspired me. I used Marion Cheever Whiteside Newton's Story Book applique patterns. Hand appliqued and hand quilted.

I made this wall hanging for the weekly quilt group's fabric challenge. The image is based on a Victorian illustration.

I finished hand quilting the Jane Austen Family Album, patterns shared by Barbara Brackman.

My quilt tops that were longarm quilted included:

Icicle Days, a design from Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill

Fox Kits design from Sew Fresh Quilts

Big Block in two colors

 The MODA Bee-autiful Sew Along embroidered quilt

A quilt made with my father-in-law's shirts

This quilt top is prettier in real life, with sparkling fabrics.

No photo yet, but I finished a queen-size quilt top for my son. 

For Christmas gifts I made five pillow cases, two dice bags, two tea cozies, and made this applique for a tote bag for my son's girlfriend who is a knitter.

pillowcases

Tote, dice bags, and a pillowcase

For the weekly quilt group Christmas exchange I made this placemat.

My plans are to continue to clear out my UFOs, finishing more quilts in process. I also have bought fabric for a pattern of stars and a house using this main fabric from Connecting Threads' Winter Flurries collection.

The Diary of Helen Korngold: A Glimpse into St. Louisan Jewish Society in 1919

In 2001 while I was browsing through a second-hand shop in south Lansing, Michigan, I came across a 1919 Stix, Baer & Fuller diary. I picked the book up and was amazed to see it was completely filled with diary entries. After reading a few entries I was charmed by the writer.

Helen Korngold, December 1919
22 years old. Taken in New York City.

The December, 31 entry ended with the signature Helen Korngold. Intrigued, I paid $15 and brought the diary home.

The diary as I found it

The diary tells the story of Helen's senior year at Washington University, pursued by boys and having a grand time, yet single-minded about her chosen career as a teacher.

The Diary of Helen Korngold

Helen was the daughter of a Jewish immigrant who by hard work and persistence built a successful business. They were part of a vibrant Jewish community in St. Louis that had deep roots.

Helen's St Louis was in its heyday. WWI had just ended, and many of the boys Helen writes about were returning home, passing through the barracks near the university.

Helen as a young teacher at Normandy H.S. in St. Louis, 1936

Helen as a teacher at Normandy H. S. in St. Louis, 1937

I have researched all aspects of Helen’s life: her friends, the places she visited, her family history. I am a genealogist and researched Helen on Ancestry.com and started a Korngold family tree, the first for her lineage. 

I wanted to solve the mystery of how a St. Louis girl’s 1919 diary ended up in Lansing, Michigan. It took me over a decade to find the answer, and only then because a member of her extended family started their own family tree. In the last year, I have been contacted by two of Helen's great-nieces and learned more about Helen's later life.

Helen Korngold Herzog and Fritz Herzog, family photograph

Helen became a teacher in a local high school. Helen married Fritz Herzog, the love of her life. Fritz was a Jewish immigrant who came to America as a student and went on to become an important American mathematician. He lost his entire family during the Holocaust.

In the coming year, I will be sharing Helen's diary entries and my research, sharing a week's diary entries and notes on every Saturday.

Helen's diary was from a local department store

I have completely enjoyed learning about Helen. I hope that my readers will enjoy visiting a world from a century ago and will come to love Helen as much as I do.

Below is some general background information about Washington University and St. Louis.

Notes and Background Information

Washington University was an army post for the armed services during WWI and many students left for the war. According to an article, “ By the end of 1917, 200 faculty and students had signed up, and on December 19 a service flag with 200 stars was hoisted over University Hall. The next day an 83-star flag went up over the medical school. Eventually, 410 graduates and 93 undergraduates received commissions, and 22 students, staff, or alumni died while in service.”

Professors added war-related courses. Dean Langsdorf added a radio communications course. Dr. Usher's 1913 book Pan-Germanism had predicted the war. His anti-German sentiments brought criticism and he responded with a public statement for academic freedom.

“In spring 1917, the Fifth Missouri Regiment came to campus, using Francis Field as its drill ground, and the next January student soldiers arrived for woodworking, blacksmithing, and machine shop training. Perhaps the biggest disruption to University life, however, was the October 1918 arrival of hundreds of men in the Students' Army Training Corps (SATC), aimed at training recruits and developing potential officers. The SATC, said the Hatchet, "saved Washington from becoming a girls' college for the period of the war." Suddenly, enrollment skyrocketed; in fall 1918, the University had 1,515 students—a 50 percent increase over the previous year.”

The SATC took over all residence halls but the women's dorms and the Francis Gymnasium. Barracks, a mess hall, and a YMCA canteen were built adjacent to the campus. With the end of the war on November 11, 1918 the SATC disbanded and left the campus. In March 1919, the Alumni Association held a banquet honoring the university's war heroes.

Named for President Jefferson, The Jefferson Barracks opened in 1826 and closed in 1946. During World War 1 it was the nation’s largest induction and demobilization center for military personnel on the way to deployment in Europe.

Some of the servicemen Helen met, like Dewey Pierre Flambert, were likely stationed at the Barracks on their way back home.

http://www.stlouisco.com/ParksandRecreation/ParkPages/JeffersonBarracks/JeffersonBarracksMuseums
http://www.jbhf.org/index.html
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/county/stlouis/jbphotos/
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/county/stlouis/jb/views.htm

The Spanish Influenza

The 1918 Spanish Influenza closed Washington University for six weeks. The Student Life Vol. 43, No. 2, of October 11, 1918, reported an empty campus as all classes were suspended after 12:30 pm on Wednesday, October 9, 1918. Administrative work and football and hockey practice continued and professors reported to their classrooms. Graham Chapel became a Red Cross shop where students made influenza masks. Classes resumed Monday, November 18; longer classes were scheduled to make up for lost time. By November 29, 1918, only 8 cases of influenza were reported and the crisis was considered over.

For further information, see the WU Magazine article from Winter 2003, "Over There":http://magazine-archives.wustl.edu/Winter03/OverThere.htm   or consult the WUSTL History section of the Archives Vertical Files.

Jewish Roots in St. Louis

St. Louis had a long history of Jewish society by the time Helen was born in 1899. In 1807 Joseph Philipson arrived from Philadelphia and became the first Jewish merchant. By 1900 there were 40,000 Jews in St. Louis.

http://www.stlgs.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=316&Itemid=507

The first Jewish services date to 1837. United Hebrew Synagogue was the first established in the city and still exists today. In 1856 Mt. Olive Cemetery was opened.

Helen notes helping her mother with Seder dinner and attending Temple Satellites, Young Hebrew activities, and teaching Sunday School classes.

Helen's parents are buried in the United Hebrew Cemetery and her brother Karol in Mt Sinai.

The Jewish population was deeply assimilated into the American culture. Fraternal organizations accepted Jewish members.

https://stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/planning/cultural-resources/preservation-plan/Part-I-Religious-Life.cfm

Charles Harper's Birds & Words

I received Charles Harper's Birds & Words from my husband for Christmas, a book that has long been on my wish list. It is a reprinting of Harper's 1972 book presenting the bird portfolios sold at $5 each in the back of the Ford Times, the Ford Motor Company's lifestyle magazine. 

Harper's original introduction was of great interest to me as I knew little about the life of the artist. He grew up on a farm, but farm life disagreed with him. He was repulsed by how farm animals were treated. After his service in the army he spent some unsatisfying time in New York City before studying at the Cincinnati Art Academy. A trip out west gave him direction. As he studied nature he began to understand the complexity of human existence and our relationship to nature. He wrote, 

"...the more I learn about nature, the more I am troubled by unanswerable questions about human exploitation of plants and animals and our casual assumption that the natural world is here only to serve people. I see all living things as fellow creatures with as might right as I have to be here and to continue living. I have to ask myself how man, the predator with a conscience, can live without carrying a burden of guilt for his existence at the expense of other creatures. Where does none draw the line between preservation of nature and preservation of self?"

Western Tanager from Ten Western Birds

The book is divided into the six portfolios:

• Ten Western Birds, from Ford Times 1956
• America's Vanishing Birds, from Ford Times 1957
• Ten Southern Birds, from Ford Times 1958
• American Bird Architects, from Ford Times 1959
• American Bird Census, from Ford Times 1960
• Ten Collector Prints

Marsh Hen from America's Vanishing Birds

Each bird is given two pages, one page showing the illustration and a page for Harper's descriptions, which are often whimsical, a pure delight to read. The title font Kismet was specially chosen by Harper for the book. 

Meadowlark from American Bird Architects

Baltimore Oriel from American Bird Architects

Readers also learn about how Harper developed his unique style, paring images down to geometrical shapes.

Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher from Ten Western Birds

Although I do love all the illustrations, it was the section of America's Vanishing Birds that moved me the most. These birds became extinct directly by human hands: The Great Auk, destroyed by 1844; the Carolina Paroquet, gone by 1904, hunted for ladies' hats; the Passenger Pigeon last seen in 1914; the Heath Hen which in 1830 was commonly found around Boston; and the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, Labrador Duck, and Eskimo Curlew. Endangered, but still with us, he included the Whopping Crane, Trumpeter Swan, California Condor (extinct in 1987 but being reintroduced), and the Everglade Kite.

I knew the book would be a visual feast, and that a study of the art would be interesting. I had not realized that Harper was also "an alternative Audubon" who was an environmentalist at heart.

Charlie Harper's Birds and Words
www.ammobooks.com
$27.95 US/$31.95 Canada/$14.95 GBP
ISBN: 978-193442905-1

We Hope for Better Things Erin Bartels

We Hope for Better Things by Erin Bartels was a pleasant surprise for me. The novel is about three generations of women who live in Detroit and rural Lapeer, Michigan, spanning from the Civil War to the 1960s to today.

I found the novel to be engaging, with interesting storylines and settings, nicely paced, and with well-drawn and sympathetic characters. As a Christian novel, Bartels message is, "God has a plan." 

Elizabeth has lost her job at the Detroit Free Press.  She is asked to visit her great-aunt Nora to determine if she is the rightful owner of a camera and photographs in the possession of an African American family. With nothing holding her back, Elizabeth agrees and leaves Detroit for Lapeer.

Nora is confused and reclusive. Over time, Elizabeth pieces together a family history that involves the Underground Railroad, forbidden love, and the Detroit riot. 

I was interested in reading the book because of its setting. I grew up and now live in Metro Detroit and remember vividly the 1967 riot. Other connections include my husband's family roots in Lapeer and adjoining villages including a great-grandfather who married a Farnsworth, a name which appears in the novel.

20th c scrap quilt, African American, Detroit MI

A bonus for me was the quiltmaking that takes place! A 19th c. Crazy Quilt, a yellow hexagon quilt, and a contemporary crazy quilt are central to the story. I love that Nora is a fabric hoarder, her stash spilling out of the closet and filling dresser drawers!

Crazy Quilt

Piecing a life, piecing the mystery of the past, piecing things whole--the book's theme could be said to be the work of taking the worn scraps life hands you and creating something of beauty out of it.

A kaleidoscope of color, it was formed from varied patches of jewel-toned velvet and silk, each piece edged with multicolored embroidery thread in a hundred different patterns. from We Hope For Better Things by Erin Bartels

1903 Crazy Quilt

Crazy Quilt Detail

Historical fiction fans will enjoy the book. Women's fiction readers will respond to the challenges the women face. Plus, there is romance and heartbreak and hope. The story addresses racism throughout American history.

19th c Hexagon quilt owned by Diane Little

Learn more about what inspired the book at 

https://erinbartels.com/home/media/interviews-articles/

Bartel's amazing photographs of Michigan can be found at

https://erinbartels.com/home/photography/

Trip Around the World, late 20th c, African American, Detroit

I received a free ebook from the publisher in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

We Hope for Better Things

by Erin Bartels

Revell

Publication January 1, 2019

ISBN: 9780800734916

PRICE: $15.99 (USD)

Detroit Motto: We Hope for Better Things, It Shall Rise From the Ashes