Over 100,000 copies sold‘A tapestry of strong characters and accomplished writing’ Herald ScotlandIt is 1911, and Jean is about to join the mass strike at the Singer factory. For her, nothing will be the same again.Decades later, in Edinburgh, Connie sews coded moments of her life into a notebook, as her mother did before her.More than 100 years after his grandmother’s sewing machine was made, … after his grandmother’s sewing machine was made, Fred discovers a treasure trove of documents. His family history is laid out before him in a patchwork of unfamiliar handwriting and colourful seams.
He starts to unpick the secrets of four generations, one stitch at a time.
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Coming from a long line of needleworkers and in possession of my Grandmother’s treadle machine and my Mother’s Singer Featherweight and my husband’s Grandmother’s needlework notebook, I just loved this book.
As a lover of vintage Singer sewing machines, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author successfully depicts characters of several generations who are linked by ownership of a Singer 99K, giving enough details about the machine and the different eras to be convincing.
Generations of strong women. Very nice read.
I loved this book, the characters were so real, and reading about multi generations is so enlightening. I am a quilter and reading about the Singer sewing machine factory and the sewing project was so interesting.
The stories were interesting. It was unique to see how the sewing machines “sewed” lives and events together. However, there was a lot of jumping around and sometimes the “bobbins” got tangled or ran out of thread.
Very interesting! At the start had trouble keeping up with the characters, as they changes with the time periods. Did manage to figure out who was in that time period the their story. Also know that somehow they were all connected. Is was well written and many connections. Amazing how we are all connected!
Very well done , kept your interest.
Not anything earth shaking just a good story of several lives intertwined by an old sewing machine.
Three stories that come together as the plot unravels. Wonderful characters!
I read this book because I sew, but found it an interesting read about the industry and what happened during this time period.
I enjoyed reading this book and learning about the lives of the people of Scotland. I highly recommend it…a great story!!
I want to read more by this author
I collect vintage sewing machines and loved It
Loved this book, very original. I read it in two days, staying up untilthe wee hours to finish it.
Interesting read. Perhaps not how I would have made choices, but interesting to see the repercussions of the choices made by those in the story. The switching between times and characters was sometimes a little confusing, especially as I was always trying to see how they related to the same machine.
I loved having the sewing machine be a central character and seeing unfolding relationships through their relation to the sewing machine.
Enjoyed very much and as a sewer I was up set as the book came to an end. The characters were very interesting. At times the switching in characters and years from 1911 to 2016 made it a little hard to follow. It was worth the read.
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Informative. Historical fiction
Story of a 1911 Singer sewing machine and the people who were involved in its history. From 1911 to present day. How the stories of these people intertwined over time. Very interesting.