Publisher: Harlequin Trade Publishing, August 30th, 2022

Format: ebook

Pages: 400

Rating: 4/5 stars

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

863: In a small Creole cottage in New Orleans, an ingenious young Black woman named Stella embroiders intricate maps on repurposed cloth to help enslaved men flee and join the Union Army. Bound to a man who would kill her if he knew of her clandestine activities, Stella has to hide not only her efforts but her love for William, a Black soldier and a brilliant musician.

Meanwhile, in New York City, a Jewish woman stitches a quilt for her husband, who is stationed in Louisiana with the Union Army. Between abolitionist meetings, Lily rolls bandages and crafts quilts with her sewing circle for other soldiers, too, hoping for their safe return home. But when months go by without word from her husband, Lily resolves to make the perilous journey South to search for him.

As these two women risk everything for love and freedom during the brutal Civil War, their paths converge in New Orleans, where an unexpected encounter leads them to discover that even the most delicate threads have the capacity to save us. Loosely inspired by the authors’ family histories, this stunning novel will stay with readers for a long time. 

My Review:

Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing for the copy of this book.
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Read if you like: multiple perspectives.
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This book follows four perspectives during the American Civil War. Stella is a young Black woman who sews maps for slaves to escape the south. She is a skilled seamstress and is in love with William, the second perspective who escapes to join the Union army. Then there is Jacob, a Jewish musician in the Union army, and Lily, an abolitionist in New York who travels south when her husband goes missing.
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With the four perspectives, the plot was fast paced with lots of action. I appreciated that this book included a Jewish perspective during the Civil War, which is not something I have read a lot on. The ending felt a bit like White Saviour Complex, and I don’t want to get too into it due to spoilers, but I could be wrong.
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CW: slavery, violence, torture, mutilation, sexual abuse, harassment, rape, pregnancy, childbirth, war, death, and murder.