Format Read: Paperback
Number of Pages: 368
Release Date: June 2010
Publisher: Allen and Unwin
Formats Available: Paperback
Purchasing Info: The Book Depository.co.uk, The Book Depository.com, Good Reads, Allen and Unwin
Book Blurb:
Tender, funny and memorable, Book of Lost Threads is a story about love and loss, parents and children, hope, faith and the value of simple kindness.
Moss has run away from Melbourne to Opportunity on the trail of a man she knows only by name. But her arrival sets in train events that disturb the long-held secrets of three of the town’ s inhabitants: Finn, a brilliant mathematician, who has become a recluse; Lily Pargetter, eighty-three-year-old knitter of tea cosies; and Sandy, the town buffoon, who dreams of a Great Galah.
It is only as Moss, Finn, Lily and Sandy develop unlikely friendships that they find a way to lay their sorrows to rest and knit together the threads that will restore them to life.
My Thoughts:
The Book of Lost Threads is a pleasant and enjoyable story about four miss-matched friends; Finn, Moss, Mrs Pargetterand Sandy. Moss is 20-something woman born to a lesbian couple who is struggling to come to terms with her identity. Finn is the ‘anonymous’ sperm donor who fathered her. He lives in a small country town called Opportunity, next door to Mrs Pargetterwho is still struggling to cope with the still birth of her child 40 years previously and who has been knitting tea cosies for the UN for several decades. Sandy is Mrs Pargetter’s nephew and he has his own family’s history to make peace with.
Together they help each other comes to terms with whatever it is that they have each been struggling to come to terms with.; love, guilty, loss.
The characters and their stories were really endearing, especially the story involving Mrs Pargetter and her tea cosies. It that sense, it was a sweet read, if not a literary masterpiece. The book did attempt to deal with big issues; love, death, family. I particularly admired Evan’s having written about the child of a same-sex relationship. This is not a common theme amoungst many books that I have read, and I appreciated that Evans was willing to write about something different. It was refreshing to read about a family that wasn’t your typical one, but at the same time you shouldn’t read this book and expect any deep analysis of the issue.
Sometimes the characters did feel a bit caricature-ish and the story a little far fetched. I particularly didn’t connect to Finn’s story about the events that acted as his motivation for moving to Opportunity and living as a hermit. The time that he spends in the monastery and his subsequent return their in his apparent time of need (which I think was quite overdone) all seemed particularly artificial.
All in all though it was an endearing, easy read. I felt myself going along for the ride with the characters and I enjoyed myself.
I give The Book of Lost Threads 3 out of 5 Bookies. It was a quick, easy and very sweet read and something I would recommend if you were in the mood for a bit of light reading.
***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review. FYI I purchased this book from a local shop.
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