About the Book: (from back cover)
It's been more than fifty years since Clara cared for injured WWII soldiers in the Women's Army Corps. Fifty years since she promised to delve a dying soldier's last wish. And fifty years since that soldier's young widow gave her the baby quilt-- a grief ridden gift that would provide hope to countless newborns in the years to come.
On her way to the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Clara decides it's time to share her story. But when the trip doesn't go as planned, Clara wonders if anyone will learn the great significance of the quilt -- and the promise stitched inside it.
About the Author:
Emily T. Wierenga is an award-winning journalist, artist, and the author of five books. Her first novel, A Promise in Pieces, is releasing Spring of 2014, and her memoir, Atlas Girl: Finding Home in the Last Place I thought to Look (Baker Books) is releasing July 1, 2014.
My Take:
I have read several of the books in the Quilts of Love series... and by far, this one has been my favorite!! Only after reading A Promise in Pieces did I realize that it was Emily's debut novel. This girl can WRITE!
My family and I have a show we used to watch a lot when the kids were much younger. At the end of one of the videos there is a line that we often use to describe a movie or book or whatever that we really enjoy-- "I laughed, I cried... it moved me Bob." That's what I felt when I finished A Promise in Pieces. A good book will get to your heart and soul and this one did... I laughed, I cried... it moved me!
Whether it was my teachers or the history books or what, I'm not sure, but I always HATED history. I think because it often has a lot of facts and dates and I'm more of a "How does that make you feel?" kind of person. I LOVE to read historical fiction, especially when the author has taken the time to dig deep for the details of life in the period they writing about. Emily has done that. I felt like I was in the tent when Clara met Gareth... I heard him singing, smelled the blood and smoke and death, and felt the tears she cried as she took down his last words.
Whether you like quilts, quilting or not... this is an excellent book. The beauty of the relationships, the hurt and anguish the characters endure and the love and hope that is given and shared in the midst of it all will draw you in and cast a spell that will take you back to World War 2 and the goings-on thereafter.
The story is told by an aging Clara to her grandson Noah, and later her daughter Lula, but most of the book takes place during and after WWII. The only thing I didn't like that the author did in this book was to break from the story and say the grandson's name or the daughter's name mid-story. It kind of broke the connection and fluidity that was in process.
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