It’s a boring, hardscrabble life for three sisters growing up on a Michigan farm in the throes of the Great Depression. But, when young Nellie, digging for pirate treasure, discovers the tiny blue-black hand of a dead baby, rumors begin to fly. Narrated by Nellie and her two older sisters, the story follows the girls as they encounter a patchwork of threatening circumstances and take it upon … themselves to solve the mystery.
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Nellie, Irene and Flora are three sisters growing up on a Michigan farm during the Depression. They work hard alongside their parents and hold on to their dreams of an easier life when they are grown up. Nellie, the youngest, has a vivid imagination. She spends her free time wandering the farm and nearby woods, having conversations with animals and her favorite alien, ZeeZee. Irene, the middle sister, has a close relationship with her teacher, eating lunch with her everyday and exchanging secrets about classmates. Flora is seventeen and as the oldest, looks out for her sisters, but is already dreaming about boys and marriage. Each of the girls has their own misadventures and close calls with danger. The way the family navigates their dire circumstances and the evil that seems to lurk in their area makes for an absorbing and intriguing read.
This was a well written and engaging book which I truly enjoyed and strongly recommend. Thank you to Netgalley and the author Charlotte Whitney for the free ARC I was given. This is my honest opinion.
Great mystery throughout, with characters you get to know deeply. Wonderful epilogue to wrap up the characters’ lives.
Almost like Little Women but in a different time and setting. And…a book for adults and YA, no question. This setting is of a time during the Depression and gives a good picture of the life of farm families working hard and long days with barely a penny. Lots of bread and potatoes eaten in those days.
Each chapter was a POV by a sister and although sometimes the switching back and forth like this can drive me nuts, I loved it here. Each sister had different and interesting personalities as did the rest of the family.
I just couldn’t stop reading this. While it deals with the harshness of the times, it also deals with the warmth of the times, families, and friends, all helping one another to keep their heads above water.
As I said I think this would be interesting to YA and adults. It brings up some hard times and of course some bad people but I think all of this story would be of interest and an easy read to many. It’s as full of lessons as it is fun, laughter, and hard times.
I received a free ARC of this novel from Netgalley and Charlotte Whitney in April 2020 and purchased the final edition from Amazon in early August. This is a book I will treasure, and want to share. I have read this historical novel of my own volition and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. I am happy to recommend Charlotte Whitney to friends and family. She puts you there in mid-Michigan farm country from April through December of 1934.
We see the American Depression through the first-person eyes and voice of the three daughters of a Michigan farming family, and each life hack they encounter is told by the girls to the reader, each from their personal viewpoint and understanding.
Nellie is 7, a youngster with a vivid imagination, and a natural storyteller. Nellie has many imaginary friends and long conversations with their five cows and the odd raccoon. She is in second grade and walks to school with her sister Irene.
Irene is the smartest girl in sixth grade in their one-room country school, where all the elementary school kids are taught together by one teacher. Irene is the sister who always tries to be good, and tells the truth. Nellie calls her the tattletale. Irene dreams of being a nurse and helping people.
Flora is 17 and in high school, which she attends with a couple of her cousins who farm down the road. Flora is smart, and if she doesn’t marry a farmer she might be able to attend teacher training classes. That is the only higher education available in their neighborhood.
Through the eyes of these sisters, we see a varied crosssection of lives in the neighborhood. We have Mr. Goldberg, the peddler of miscellany who travels through every few months with his cartload of goodies. Teachers Miss Flatshaw and Miss Swanson who have vastly different outlooks on life and education. They have to call out the Sheriff Devlon several times that summer and fall.
This story, this voice, is very special. It is a book I will savor, and share.
I read this book via an ARC from the author, for Rosie Amber’s Book Review Team. The fact that it was free has not affected this honest review.
Threads is a set on a farm in Michigan during the Depression, about a family struggling to survive. The novel is told in alternating first person points of view of the three daughters: Flora, who is seventeen, Nellie, the youngest, who is seven, and Irene, somewhere in the middle. Nellie is a tad wild, with a vivid imagination; Irene is a rather smug goody-goody on the surface, but is clearly suffering from ‘middle-child syndrome’, while Flora is very much the ‘big sister’, nearly an adult, who sees how the world works outside the concerns of the other two. Each sister’s character is clearly defined, with her own distinctive voice.
The novel is primarily concerned simply with the way of life of that place and time; it is character rather than plot-driven, an illustration of the family’s world and their fears, joys and struggles. These people were POOR. If you’ve never dined on potatoes every night, or looked on a bean sandwich as a treat, you should never think of yourself as hard-up again! Within the girls’ narratives, Ms Whitney has shown us a larger picture of the country in the 1930s; they tell of the ‘train riders’; unemployed, itinerant young men who travelled the country by stowing away on trains, begging for food wherever they stopped. The way the community pitched in to help each other. The fears that consumed them all; if they couldn’t sell enough produce, they would lose their homes.
I found Flora’s chapters the most interesting as she was concerned not only her own insular world (what happened at school, etc) but talked about the way of life as a whole. On occasion, though, Irene and Nellie would reveal much within their own childlike eye-view; this was done most skillfully.
If I have any criticisms, it’s just that I would have liked a bit more actual plot; events coming to a climax and then being resolved, at some point. There is a little mystery concerning an event from the first chapter about which we don’t get the answer until the end, but I felt there were missed opportunities to make the story more of a page-turner. However, I did enjoy it, throughout, and would most certainly recommend it as an insightful and highly readable look at this recent and still relevant time in America’s history.
The author brings us into the depression era world of a farm family, their community, and joys and sorrows as three sisters come of ages in their own ways. The story brings smiles and tears of empathy.
The girls speak for themselves chapter by chapter as they deal with hunger, the fear of homelessness, the finding of a baby buried in a mysterious shallow grave near their home, and a roaming predator. The story is written in the style of a memoir and is engaging and interesting.
My only negative is that at times the girls’ stories waver between being told from their youthful perspective and adult pontificating. There are times the pace slows, but this book is well worth reading.
As a volunteer reviewer, I received a copy of this book through NetGalley. My reviews are my own only and not under any other obligation.Charlotte Whitney
Wealthy days of poverty
Threads is the story of three girls living through the depression on a small farm in Michigan. It is a story of how life was, the making do, sometimes going hungry, hard work, holding on to their home by a thread and a family filled with love and happiness amid hard times. It follows three girls, Flora , Irene and Nellie.
One day Nellie, (7 years old, the youngest) while going to play in the creek found a mound on the side of the road. Thinking of treasure she got a stick and poked the mound. What she found was a tiny had of a baby which had been buried in the mound. This caused quite the commotion at home when she told her parents. They told the girls not of speak of it and called the Sheriff. The girls formed a “Sisters Club” they got together and talked about who they though had buried it there and why. The tried to solve the mystery and got into some pretty bad circumstances while doing so.
It is a story of the girls coming to terms with life and growing up. Tragedy and happier times both have to be done through by all. The book was a delight to read, and very informative as to how they lived in this historical era. The description of their life day to day and how they lived was very well done even the flowers and the vegetable garden.
I loved the way that at the end of the book the author wrote pages in to explain what happened with each girl in the future and how each on followed her own path. It really was a great way to end the book.
I definitely would recommend this book. You will not be disappointed.
Thanks to Charlotte Whitney, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book for an honest review.
THREADS: A DEPRESSION ERA TALE by Charlotte Whitney is an engaging historical fiction novel set in 1934 with an epilogue set in 1974. This story is told from the perspectives of three sisters living on a farm in Michigan. Nellie is seven years old and has a fantastic imagination. Irene is eleven, overconfident, believes she is the smartest student at her school, and frequently finds faults in others. Seventeen-year-old Flora wants to get married. Short chapters alternate between the three sisters’ perspectives and reflections on the days.
The Great Depression was a tough time economically for most. In addition to the stock market crash and bank failures, farmers faced draught and over-production which led to reduced prices. The sisters’ family faced true hardship from working hard on the family farm to having very little to eat to peddling eggs and garden vegetables in town. However, there were other dangers including a variety of crimes and rumors.
The author used local dialect throughout the novel and included a note at the front of the book about her reasons for doing so. Once I got into the flow of the novel, it did not detract from my reading enjoyment. Ms. Whitney did a great job of painting the picture of the lives of the sisters, their family, and the surrounding community. Her characterization of the three sisters was consistent and provided a lot of depth. She obviously did a lot of research to ensure historical accuracy. Themes include family, school, pleasure from the small jobs of life, hardships, murder, love, survival, sexual assault, work ethics and much more.
Overall, the story is moving, fascinating and skillfully done. I hope that Ms. Whitney decides to write more historical fiction novels.
Thanks to Charlotte Whitney for a complimentary copy of this novel and the opportunity to provide an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.