Maybelle in Stitches by Joyce Magnin ~ Review

Lucie's Review:

Maybelle is a welderette at Sun Shipping and Dry Dock, during WWII. Her husband is fighting the Germans, and Maybelle does what she can to support the war effort.

I loved learning more about how the face of manufacturing change during the war, opening jobs for women, as well as exposing them to dangers. I appreciated the realistic outlook, there were many meticulous details from the clothes they wore to the hazards they faced.

A great part of this story was Maybelle's friendship with Doris. Doris encourages Maybelle to finish the quilt left by her mother. They found many pieces who stories behind them, and most of the story is about Doris and Maybelle sewing the pieces together. Throughout the story Maybelle finds that she is stronger than she ever thought she was before, and that she is capable of many things.

My overall impression of this story reminds me of their quilt, there was a lot of time spent piecing the story, but not enough time spent quilting the layers together. At times it was choppy and the details didn't match up. There was such great potential for great moments of faith, but instead there was a heavy focus on "positive thinking." So basically I personally think that there were a lot of missed opportunities there, but it wasn't necessarily bad.

This was a hard book to read, at times, but it did a good job of immersing me into the lives of the main characters and their experiences, as they worked and wondered when their men would come home.

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This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Maybelle In Stitches Abingdon Press (March 18, 2014) by Joyce Magnin

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

A word from the Author:

I am the author of seven novels. Five adult novels and two middle grade readers. I never wanted to do anything else but write and every day I wake up astonished that I get to do what I always dreamed about. My days are filled with words and images along with the usual family stuff. I have three children, Rebekah who is married to Joshua. They have three of the most adorable boys on the planet, Lemuel, Cedar and Soren. My daughter Emily Kate is a lovely young woman anthropologist and my son Adam is fourteen and a student--he's a genius who loves frogs and lizards and fish and plants. He amazes me.

I have never eaten a scallop. I love cream soda. Drink way too much coffee. I do not like elevators but I do enjoy needle arts and of course books. I prefer jazz over country (no offense), milk chocolate over dark, but not roller coasters although my life has often resembled a roller coaster ride.

One of my life's desires is to meet Amy Grant so I can tell her she saved my life.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Maybelle can’t sew. But when she finds an unfinished quilt in the attic of her mother’s house, she gets the crazy idea to complete it. At first, it’s just a way to fill the lonely nights while her husband, staff sergeant Holden Kanzinzki, is away fighting in World War II.

Yet when Maybelle discovers that the quilt is made from scraps of material that can be traced back through her family heritage, the project is suddenly much more important. Then word comes that Holden is missing in action, and with little else to do, Maybelle clings to the quilt as much as to the hope that her husband is still alive. As neighborhood friends gather around Maybelle to help her through the unknown days and nights ahead, it is the quilt that becomes a symbol of her unflagging belief that Holden will return—to her, to their home, and to their quilt-covered bed.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Maybelle In Stitches, go HERE.