Master Quilter Sylvia Bergstrom Compson treasures an antique quilt
called by three names -- Birds in the Air, after its pattern; the
Runaway Quilt, after the woman who sewed it; and the Elm Creek
Quilt, after the place to which its maker longed to return. That
quilter was Joanna, a fugitive slave who traveled by the
Underground Railroad to reach safe haven in 1859 at Elm Creek Farm.
Though Joanna's freedom proved short-lived -- she was forcibly
returned by slave catchers to Josiah Chester's plantation in
Virginia -- she left the Bergstrom family a most precious gift, her
son. Hans and Anneke Bergstrom, along with maiden aunt Gerda,
raised the boy as their own, and the secret of his identity died
with their generation. Now it falls to Sylvia -- drawing upon
Gerda's diary and Joanna's quilt -- to connect Joanna's past to
present-day Elm Creek Manor.
Just as Joanna could not have foreseen that, generations later,
her quilt would become the subject of so much speculation and
wonder, Sylvia and her friends never could have imagined the events
Joanna witnessed in her lifetime. Punished for her escape by being
sold off to her master's brother in Edisto Island, South Carolina,
Joanna grieves over the loss of her son and resolves to run again,
to reunite with him someday in the free North. Farther south than
she has ever been, she nevertheless finds allies, friends, and even
love in the slave quarter of Oak Grove, a cotton plantation where
her skill with needle and thread soon becomes highly prized.
Through hardship and deprivation, Joanna dreams of freedom and
returning to Elm Creek Farm. Determined to remember each landmark
on the route north, Joanna pieces a quilt of scraps left over from
the household sewing, concealing clues within the meticulous
stitches. Later, in service as a seamstress to the new bride of a
Confederate officer, Joanna moves on to Charleston, where secrets
she keeps will affect the fate of a nation, and her abilities and
courage enable her to aid the country and the people she loves
most.
The knowledge that scraps can be pieced and sewn into simple lines
-- beautiful both in and of themselves and also for what they
represent and what they can accomplish -- carries Joanna through
dark days. Sustaining herself and her family through ingenuity and
art during the Civil War and into Reconstruction, Joanna leaves
behind a remarkable artistic legacy that, at last, allows Sylvia to
discover the fate of the long-lost quilter.
General
Imprint: |
Simon Spotlight Entertainment
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Series: |
The Elm Creek Quilts, 14 |
Release date: |
2010 |
First published: |
2010 |
Authors: |
Jennifer Chiaverini
|
Dimensions: |
210 x 138 x 22mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Trade
|
Pages: |
337 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-4165-3317-7 |
Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
General & literary fiction >
Modern fiction
|
LSN: |
1-4165-3317-6 |
Barcode: |
9781416533177 |
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