A gritty family saga set in Lancashire in the 1900s and Ireland at the time of the ‘Black and Tans’. This is the prequel to the Howarth family saga of three titles (Pattern of Shadows, Changing Patterns and Living in the Shadows) set in the years before and after WW1.
A Hundred Tiny Threads
By judithbarrow
Highly recommended – A brilliant prequel to the Howarth family saga
I read and reviewed the three books in the Howarth Family Saga series and was delighted to discover that Judith Barrow was going to release a prequel to the series. We meet Winifred Duffy and Bill Howarth well into middle-age in the trilogy, and it is wonderful to find out how they began life, and the experiences that formed their characters.
Winifred Duffy finds it difficult to bond with her rigidly unloving mother despite the best efforts of her father. Their grocery shop is a focal point in the street and being under the watchful eye of the neighbours makes their strained relationship worse. It is a time when the Suffragette movement is gathering pace, and much against her mother’s wishes, Winifred becomes involved. Her new friends are vibrant and colourful. They are completely different to anyone that she has known before and they draw her into a dangerous liaison. Winifred has to develop the strength to overcome the consequences of these relationships if she is to continue to live within the narrow minded community around her.
Bill Howarth is a young man whose early life and time in the mines has marred him, leaving scars that make him unpredictable and angry. But Winifred catches his eye and ignites a love that is both powerful and destructive. Bill enlists to fight in the First World War and his experiences of the horror drives any compassion he might have had, deeper beneath his anger. This is reinforced with his service as part of the Black and Tans regiment in Ireland leaving him with few options if he is to find redemption.
Judith Barrow has created two very different characters that cross paths on a number of occasions, sometimes without being aware of each other’s existence. It is very difficult to like Bill Howarth, and it takes a skilled writer to instil some compassion and understanding for the young man he becomes. Winifred is much easier to admire, as she faces and overcomes some life-changing events, and comes to terms with secrets from the past.
The pace of the story is excellent, with several other wonderfully drawn characters such as Honara and her brother Conal, and the completely unlikeable Ethel Duffy. The history of the suffragette movement and the Irish conflict are very well portrayed, forming a compelling backdrop to the story of two young people being drawn into events, often beyond their control.
I recommend that if you have not already read the three books in the trilogy, that you begin with A Hundred Tiny Threads. This will offer you a wonderful introduction to the Howarth family that you will next meet during the Second World War. Also, having become familiar with the locations in this prequel, you will feel immediately at home when you encounter them in the first of the books, Pattern of Shadows.
This is the fourth book in the Pattern of Shadows series, though in some ways the first, because it’s the prequel to the others, which are set in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. I’d recommend reading it first, anyway. It spans the years 1911 to 1923, and tells the story of earlier members of the Howarth family.
So, there was me thinking this was going to be an ‘eh-up, love, put the kettle on’ family drama amongst the cobbles, with a bit of WW1 angst thrown in. I was wrong; it’s so much more than that, and far more interesting. The book starts with Winifred Duffy, daughter of ‘orrible Ethel, joining up with some enchanting Irish scallywags with irritating dialogue tics who are involved in the fight for the women’s vote. The story was jogging along in a modest fashion, until (enter stage left) along came Winifred’s grandmother, Florence, who I loved, and whose story was heartbreaking. A moment later I was reintroduced to Bill Howarth (Mr Prologue), a thoroughly unlikeable character who grew increasingly despicable, and all of a sudden I realised I was engrossed. I do love a well-written nasty piece of work, and Judith Barrow has done a masterful job with Howarth. He’d had a bad start in life, yes, but I didn’t pity him; my loathing of him grew more intense as the book progressed.
The saga moves through the treatment of the suffragettes, lost love, unwanted pregnancy, dark family secrets, the evil, pointless horror of WW1, the general godawful fate of the impoverished classes, the 1919 influenza epidemic, the atrocities committed by the Black and Tans ~ this is no rose-tinted piece of nostalgia, and no detail is spared. Saddest of all is the life of Winifred, in many ways; although she finds some degrees of happiness, the theme all the way through seemed to be how women of the time had to put up and shut up, and accept what they got, even if it was so much less than they deserved. This aspect of the book is so well done, without being hammered home. I was pleased that, although there was resolution, there was no great happy ending. 100 Tiny Threads is about real life, and quite an eye-opener it is too; it made me glad I wasn’t born fifty years earlier, for sure.
When I got to the end, I wanted to nip back to Pattern of Shadows, set in WW2, to find out what happened to Bill and Winifred; it’s two or three years since I read it, and I can’t remember. D’you know, I think I will.
Superb!
What a fantastic read! While it sounds so cliché, this novel grabbed my attention from the first page and gripped me until the very end.
The story begins in 1911, when we are introduced to Winifred, who works in a grocer’s shop with her miserable mother, Ethel. Winifred’s life changes when she meets an Irish girl, Honora, who pulls her into the Suffragettes cause … and one where she meets her friend’s handsome brother, Conal. Winifred’s life is suddenly more colorful, and happier, though it is also fraught with risk. Before she can enjoy what she sees as a new life, circumstances send her back to the shop with her condescending and cruel mother.
The reader is also introduced to Bill, rough around the edges. When he sees Winifred, he is determined that she is the one for him … and enraged to find her heart belongs to someone else.
I don’t want to give away this finely executed and beautifully paced story. It is rich with color, emotion, and details that play out like a film on the page. There’s no way I can resist reading more of this series. Judith Barrow is a gifted author with a deep understanding of the human spirit … with all of its flaws, desires, and determination to fight against impossible odds to find happiness.