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kelly_shea's review
5.0
This book follows a lineage of women who have the gift to access the memories of their mother (and the generations of women before her) through a tapestry. The story takes the perspective of four women and spans many decades, beginning in pre-partition India and ending in 21st century New York.
The turmoil of events that characters experience was really interesting - I learned a lot about a history that I didn't know much of before - but the heart of the story is really the strength of female love, between mother and daughter but also sisters, friends, spouses, aunts, etc.
The message of this book was powerful, and made me think. How much of myself comes from my mother, and the mothers before her? The story brings out this sense of a sort of aching connection with all of the generations of women who have come before you. I can tell that this feeling will sit with me for a long time after finishing this book.
Lastly, the writing itself was lovely. The book used a frame narrative, in which the narrator was telling the story of the tapestry to her wife. The bulk of the story, which was of the lives of the previous three women to be stitched onto the tapestry, was in third person while the frame was written as the narrator speaking to her wife.
Loved and would definitely recommend this book.
The turmoil of events that characters experience was really interesting - I learned a lot about a history that I didn't know much of before - but the heart of the story is really the strength of female love, between mother and daughter but also sisters, friends, spouses, aunts, etc.
The message of this book was powerful, and made me think. How much of myself comes from my mother, and the mothers before her? The story brings out this sense of a sort of aching connection with all of the generations of women who have come before you. I can tell that this feeling will sit with me for a long time after finishing this book.
Lastly, the writing itself was lovely. The book used a frame narrative, in which the narrator was telling the story of the tapestry to her wife. The bulk of the story, which was of the lives of the previous three women to be stitched onto the tapestry, was in third person while the frame was written as the narrator speaking to her wife.
Loved and would definitely recommend this book.
iraophelia's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
Thank you to Viking and NetGalley for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book follows three women in one family lineage through an especially tumultuous time of India’s history. The story is by Ayukta to her wife Nadya, as she shares her family’s history and the family’s secret- all of the women in the family are connected via a magical tapestry. The plot is heavily character centric, with themes of inheritance, womanhood, and healing generational trauma.
Overall, the story felt at odds with the different elements- the stories of the past women, the historical elements, and the present day story of Ayukta and Nadya. The way that these three elements competed left none of them feeling fleshed out enough. I found the pacing to be odd, and most often too slow, as well as the overall flow of the book to be uneven. The majority of the book is spent focusing on Amla’s childhood, which leaves the rest of the book feeling rushed. The historical elements were of great importance to the characters, but much of the context was shared through exposition from our narrator. This would have been more engaging if the characters were more integrated into that part of the story. However, this separate third person perspective was very intentional and integral to this storytelling style of the book. For me personally, it left me feeling disconnected from both the narrator and the women she was talking about.
Overall, this book was a slow and character driven exploration. Some of the quotes and topics were thought provoking and the author frequently made some beautiful sentiments. However, the glacial pacing and the lack of feeling connected to the narrator or her family left me feeling unfulfilled after reading this book. However, this still might appeal to fans of light historical fiction and slow character focused stories with little overarching plot.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault
books_with_joanne's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
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