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A review by kbaj
The Thread Collectors by Shaunna J. Edwards, Alyson Richman
4.0
I really enjoyed this story, especially because I learned a lot about the Civil War from the perspective of Black and Jewish soldiers and civilians. There are a lot more books about free and enslaved Black perspectives on the war than when I was younger, but this is the first book about Jewish experiences that I've come across. I found it very valuable for showing that the intersections of race, religion, color, and wealth (among many others) aren't fixed, but can change in their effects depending on the context.
While I appreciated the story, I didn't like the writing style so much. The book read like a thesaurus, which distracted me from what the characters were saying. At times, the authors' efforts to avoid common expressions or the word "said" felt extremely flowery, forced, or plain did not make sense. I also didn't like that the main characters had absolutely no flaws, and the background characters were written like caricatures of "good" and "bad" Southerners or Northerners. I found it difficult to get invested in the main characters as people because they never did anything wrong intentionally and were always perfect wives, husbands, lovers, sisters, etc. I understand that the authors based the story loosely on their own family histories, and you don't really want to make your ancestors (and your protagonists) seem like bad people. But the characters were so blameless that they didn't seem like people at all.
While I appreciated the story, I didn't like the writing style so much. The book read like a thesaurus, which distracted me from what the characters were saying. At times, the authors' efforts to avoid common expressions or the word "said" felt extremely flowery, forced, or plain did not make sense. I also didn't like that the main characters had absolutely no flaws, and the background characters were written like caricatures of "good" and "bad" Southerners or Northerners. I found it difficult to get invested in the main characters as people because they never did anything wrong intentionally and were always perfect wives, husbands, lovers, sisters, etc. I understand that the authors based the story loosely on their own family histories, and you don't really want to make your ancestors (and your protagonists) seem like bad people. But the characters were so blameless that they didn't seem like people at all.