 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Christmas Quilt"The captivating story unfolds at a perfect pace. GRADE: A" – Ft.Worth Star-Telegram"This redemptive novel beautifully threads together pieces of Sylvia's life story while celebrating the strength of women, sisterhood and friendship. Wrap this one up for a cherished friend." – The Virginian-Pilot Jennifer Chiaverini gives her fans a long-hoped-for holiday-themed story in THE CHRISTMAS QUILT, a heartwarming novel filled with the memories and traditions of Elm Creek Manor's indomitable master quilter, Sylvia Bergstrom Compson. Infused with wisdom and rich with the flavors of the holidays, THE CHRISTMAS QUILT is a timeless tale that Elm Creek Quilts devotees are sure to cherish. It is the morning of Christmas Eve at Elm Creek, and Sylvia is resisting the efforts of Sarah, her young partner in the Elm Creek Quilt Camp enterprise, to infuse the Manor with a bit of Christmas cheer. Sylvia, opinionated to the last, thinks that Sarah and her husband Matt should spend the holiday with Sarah's intractable mother, but Sarah insists that Sylvia should not be on her own. Reluctantly, Sylvia agrees to Sarah decorating a few of the rooms, but when the women retrieve the boxes of Christmas ornaments from the attic, it opens an unexpected floodgate of memories and emotions for the aging matriarch. Among the decades-old Christmas decorations, they find a long-forgotten, unfinished Christmas quilt. With bittersweet nostalgia, Sylvia admires the work her Great-aunt Lucinda and her mother, Eleanor, did on the project -- including intricate Feathered Star blocks and graceful appliqued clusters of holly leaves and berries -- but derides her sister Claudia's second-rate contribution. Only two years apart in age, the sisters always had a fractious childhood relationship, which becomes a focal point of Sylvia's memories of Christmases past. Her reminiscences begin during the Great Depression, when the once grand Bergstrom traditions needed to be curtailed for the first time. The ensuing years will witness the premature death of her kind-hearted mother, the loss of a beloved cousin, and the disruption of the family-rending Second World War II. Throughout, the domestic arts handed down to each generation of Bergstrom women remain a sustaining constant, including quilting, knitting, and baking -- especially their unrivaled Christmas strudel. As the years pass, Sylvia and Claudia remain locked in battle, until a final family tragedy separates them forever. Now, as the only surviving Bergstrom, Sylvia begins to come to terms with her emotional ambivalence, brought to the fore by the Christmas quilt that inextricably ties her and Claudia together. But while it is too late for a Bergstrom rapprochement, Sylvia realizes it is not too late for Sarah and her mother to avoid making the same mistakes. "Jennifer Chiaverini is one of the most compelling storytellers. . . . She makes her characters and plots so real readers feel as if they have stepped back in time," the Green Bay Press-Gazette has said of the Elm Creek Quilts series. Infused with wisdom and rich with the flavor of the holidays, THE CHRISTMAS QUILT is a timeless tale that Jennifer Chiaverini devotees are sure to cherish. |
  • Buy The Christmas Quilt from Amazon • Buy The Christmas Quilt from Barnes & Noble • Buy The Christmas Quilt from Booksense |