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AN ELM CREEK
QUILTS SAMPLER
Jennifer Chiaverini
Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 0-7432-6018-X
October 2003
Inspirational
AN ELM CREEK QUILTS SAMPLER
contains the first three novels of Jennifer Chiaverini's
quilting series: THE QUILTER'S APPRENTICE, ROUND ROBIN, and THE
CROSS-COUNTRY QUILTERS. Each of these three books is compelling
in its own way, and Chiaverini's versatile writing mimics the
variety of the quilts her characters create.
THE QUILTER'S APPRENTICE focuses on the unlikely relationship
between a young wife and her husband's crotchety employer. Sarah
McClure gets off on the wrong foot with Sylvia Compson, the
owner of Elm Creek Manor, whose skill at quilting is almost as
legendary as her alienation of an entire community. These two
lost souls, seemingly mismatched, bond as Sylvia shares her
skill and her memories with Sarah. Their friendship grows
tighter with each stitch they set. Chiaverini does a beautiful
job weaving Sylvia's tragic past and her mentoring of Sarah with
Sarah's attempts to help Sylvia heal old heartaches. The
emotional impact of THE QUILTER'S APPRENTICE is a perfect
balance of light and shadows, joy and sorrow.
ROUND ROBIN picks up with the establishment of Elm Creek Quilts,
and again, the balance of past and present stories is
beautifully told with virtually seamless transitions between the
many plot threads. Readers learn more about Sarah and Sylvia,
and more about their friends and families as well. All is not
sweetness and light, however, but the dark patches in the story
add depth and dimension to the characters. The tension between
Sarah and her mother is well-depicted, including legitimate
grievances and the petty foolishness so typical of family
squabbles. The themes in ROUND ROBIN echo those of the first
book and expound upon them, pulling readers deeper into Elm
Creek Manor and its residents.
The emotional investment in the original group of characters
makes the third book in this omnibus somewhat problematic.
THE CROSS-COUNTRY QUILTERS are a group of ladies who meet at a
quilting seminar at Elm Creek Manor and agree to make
significant efforts to conquer their personal demons before
reuniting the following year. Although the characters in this
segment of the book are just as interesting as those in the
first two stories, the change of focus is a bit jarring, leaving
as it does a sense of unfinished business. Readers who have
grown attached to the Elm Creek characters will possibly be
disappointed at their minor roles in THE CROSS-COUNTRY QUILTERS;
on the other hand, the open ending and unanswered questions
might hook them further into the series and prompt them to look
for subsequent Elm Creek stories. Like a quilt begun but not
finished, this volume lacks a sense of closure, although it does
showcase Ms. Chiaverini's story-telling versatility. It might
have been better to substitute a later volume that tells more
about the original characters.
Jennifer Chiaverini's writing is as textured and richly-colored
as the quilts she describes in her stories. She is a gifted
writer, telling stories that reflect the spectrum of human
emotion and experience. An added bonus to AN ELM CREEK QUILTS
SAMPLER is that Ms. Chiaverini describes quilting so well that
readers are likely to try the art themselves. |
Reviewed by Mellanie
Crowther
Rating:
 
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