Review: These Tangled Threads
Today, I’m sharing a book review of These Tangled Threads, a historical novel by Sarah Loudin Thomas.
Disclosure: I voluntarily received a complimentary copy from the author as part of Austenprose PR publicity tours. All views expressed are my own. This post includes Amazon affiliate links.
My Review
Interestingly, I read These Tangled Threads back-to-back with What the Mountains Remember. They are both set in Asheville, North Carolina, in the 1910s-1920s. I felt like I was in the same story world, even though they are completely unrelated novels.
These Tangled Threads is “a novel of Biltmore” and focuses on the folk art the region is known for, specifically weaving and woodworking. It made me want to take up weaving! Though I have no idea where I would put a loom, nor find time to learn the art. Nor do I have a need for handwoven coverlets or fabric. Oh, well!
The story unfolds, moving back and forth across the years, telling the backstory of the characters and why they find themselves in the current (1924) situation. I found the characters believable and likable. The Biltmore Estate setting is fascinating. The plot is intriguing and I loved how the missing person mystery is resolved.
From the Publisher
Seven years ago, a hidden betrayal scattered three young friends living in the shadow of Biltmore Estate. Now, when Biltmore Industries master weaver Lorna Blankenship is commissioned to create an original design for Cornelia Vanderbilt’s 1924 wedding, she panics knowing she doesn’t have the creativity needed. But there’s an elusive artisan in the Blue Ridge Mountains who could save her–if only she can find her.
To track the mysterious weaver down, Lorna sees no other way but to seek out the relationships she abandoned in shame. As she pulls at each tangled thread from her old life, Lorna is forced to confront the wounds and regrets of long ago. She’ll have to risk the job that shapes her identity as well as the hope of friendship–and love–restored.
In this seamlessly woven historical tale, award-winning Appalachian author Sarah Loudin Thomas delivers a poignant novel of friendship, artistry, restoration, and second chances.
About the Author
Sarah Loudin Thomas (sarahloudinthomas.com) is the author of numerous acclaimed novels, including The Finder of Forgotten Things, The Right Kind of Fool, winner of the 2021 Selah Book of the Year, and Miracle in a Dry Season, winner of the 2015 INSPY Award. She worked in public relations for Biltmore Estate for six years and is now the director of Jan Karon’s Mitford Museum. A native of West Virginia, she and her husband now live in western North Carolina.
