Review: A memorable read
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 7, 2014
S. R. Mallery’s Sewing Can Be Dangerous and Other Small Threads, is a magnificent duvet of short stories held together thematically by the archetypical image of women’s role as a sustainer of life through her sewing ability. The characters all come from different cultural and social backgrounds, but all share a common goal—to uphold justice in a cruel, uncaring world. In order to save her marriage, a newly wed woman must unstitch a quilt harbouring a curse that dates to the Salem Witch Trials. Lettie, a deaf American slave, gains her freedom from her sadistic white owner because of her talents as a seamstress. A woman during the Nazi reign bravely sews forged passports into a quilt to help Jews escape the death camps. A young mother’s quilting talents saves her community from an imminent Indian attack.The author spins her stories with great expertise and keeps the reader captivated to the end. Each story becomes in itself a real comforter that we can wrap around ourselves knowing justice has at last been done. This is without a doubt, a memorable read.