"All the best stories in the world are but one story in reality -- the story of escape. It is the only thing which interests us all and at all times, how to escape."
--Author Christopher Benson

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Thursday, February 18, 2010

THE LOST QUILTER by Jennifer Chiaverini

This is a story fans of this series have been waiting for.  In the 4th book of this series "The Runaway Quilt" we learned that Sylvia Bergstrom's ancestors had sheltered a pregnant runaway slave Joanna, until she was found by slave catchers. In this story an heirloom quilt is found that has Elm Creek Manor quilted into the background.

In this 14th installment to the series we get to hear Joanna's story.  This story is truly heart wrenching as you hear the stories of slaves before the Civil War, the beatings, slaves being sold away from their families, children ripped from their mother's arms.  Thoughout the entire ordeal Joanna dreams of running away again and is working on a quilt to help her remember her way back to Elm Creek Manor.

The book starts in current time with a bunch of letters found in an old family desk that has lived in the attic of the Manor for years.  I won't tell you how it ends, but you will not want to put this book down until you reach the last page.

I loved the way Jennifer reminded us of the purpose of the quilts made in the mid 1800's until the end of the Civil War as they were used by the Underground Railway to help slaves to freedom.  Today we make quilts to decorate our homes and beds, to celebrate great occasions, to give to charity or just for our pure enjoyment.  It is important to have stories like "The Lost Quilter" to remind us of our history and show us how far we have come.
 

Jennifer has 2 more books in the series that our on my Wish List.  "A Quilter's Holiday" which was released in November 2009 and "The Aloha Quilt" was is set to be released in April 2010.  Jennifer has also released 4 books of quilting patterns based on the Elm Creek Series an she she has her own fabric collection made by Red Rooster Fabrics.  To find out more about this wonderful author you can check out her website http://elmcreek.net/index.php

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