New Novel Set at the Biltmore Estate

 

These Tangled Threads  by Sarah Loudin Thomas

The Biltmore estate is the site of industries supporting the tradespeople of the Appalachian mountains.  Lorna is a grieving, accomplished weaver who is teaching orphaned Gentry the trade. Arthur is a talented wood carver.  The three of them become woven together as the story progresses.

Lorna is desperate to keep her job by designing an unusual fabric.  She comes across some beautiful patterns belonging to Gentry’s dead mother.  Can she use them to rescue her position? 

Arthur has loved Lorna but she seems not to notice him.  Can he forget her and move on with his life?

Gentry is desperate to find the woman whom she has thought dead for years, but hardly knows where to start.

The questions keep the reader involved in the plot as these threads become even more tangled as the story progresses.  The characters are lovable but flawed.  The setting is interesting, letting the reader experience what the life and times on the Biltmore was like.

The most difficult part of the book was keeping up with the timeline.  It kept shifting from past to present in the different characters’ lives.  The setting often changed too.  Even though it was clearly marked, it still was confusing.

Readers who have enjoyed Sarah Loudin Thomas’ other books will likely enjoy this one, too.  I am grateful to the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion. 

New Novel by a Michigan Writer

 

The Lady with the Dark Hair by Erin Bartels

Esther Markstrom is the curator of an art museum featuring the work of her famous ancestor, Francisco Vella.  She runs the museum and cares for her mentally ill mother.  She wonders if she is destined to live an uneventful, boring even, life, when she encounters her former college art professor, who turns her world upside down by a recent discovery.

Bartels skillfully weaves the two storylines of Esther and Vivienne, a 19^th century artist together to reveal the mystery of the lady with the dark hair.  Not only does she tell the story skillfully, but she illuminates the process by which artists paint and how the pigments themselves were created and distributed.

The main point of the story is the struggle that women painters encountered as they tried to break into an art dominated by men in the late 1800s.  The spiritual content of this book seemed a little lighter than Bartels’ other works, but Vivienne especially references Him in her trials.  However, this was a very enjoyable and clean novel and should be palatable to readers who may be offended by spiritual references.  It doesn’t contain pithy life lessons like a Lynn Austin novel or showcase spiritual growth like a Jamie Langston Turner novel, but it does contain two women who come to terms with what they want from life and take action to get it.

I enjoyed this novel and appreciate the arc I received from the publisher in exchange for this, my honest review.