The Wishing Thread: A Novel

A lovely story. This book drew me into the family of the Van Rippers and made me care about their lives. Heartwarming.

Truly enjoyable. Magical. Having lived all my life around New York City, I am familiar with Tarrytown. It's always cool to read about places you know and recognize on the page. I felt as if the Van Ripper sisters (love the nod to Catskill folklore there) actually lived there, and the Stitchery was a real place I could visit and ask for a spell or two. Fans of Sarah Addison Allen (of which I am one) will enjoy this book. It feels very much like it, though not like a copy, or an attempt at one. The Wishing Thread and Lisa Van Allen stand on their own. (Spoilery! If you read further, it's your own fault!) The only reason I gave The Wishing Thread a four and not a five is that I found the falling action after the big climax to be a bit off. I call shennanigans--because all these sisters who have been so resolute throughout the whole novel seem to give way without too much of a fuss. After all she did sacrificing Vic to the spell, and being so adamant about not giving back the sacrifice, Aubrey caves the minute he shows up at her door. Bitty's husband comes raging to get her with all these vows of making life hard for her only to be waylaid by a spell that was only meant to stall him, and then isn't really heard from again. Same with Meggie--four years searching for her mother and after the confession and a chat with her friend, she gives up the search. There was a little more development than that, but after building their storylines up, to have them give in comparatively easily didn't feel right. I'm GLAD they did! And I'm happy with the ending--I just wish, after all those stones thrown at her characters, Ms. Van Allen gave their eventual HEA just a little more evolution.

I am a rabid, constant knitter and a lover of books with any sort of magic. I was really looking forward to reading an unconventional knit-lit book (there are a LOT of conventional ones out there). And I give Lisa Van Allen kudos for crafting an unconventional, original plot; really, this might have been the best knitting book I've read--her underlying ideas were creative. BUT. BUT. It felt forced. And I was left thinking about what it could have been. I really wanted to love Audrey, the central character, but I couldn't quite suspend my disbelief, I didn't love her or even believe in her. It was much, much easier for me to believe someone could knit a spell into a pair of mittens than to believe someone who had never had a romantic relationship would behave the way she did in one. And it was really difficult for me to believe in her sisters' motivations, either. The characters seemed created just for the sake of driving the plot, and they changed stripe (or dye lot?) when necessary to move things along. In all, it was a fine, fun read, but "just okay"--not one I'll carry with me once I've deleted it from my Kindle app. I would, however, like to see what Lisa Van Allen does next!

The Wishing Thread is an extremely interesting book and I have enjoyed reading it. I don't knit but it makes me want to learn. People who do enjoy knitting or at least proficient in it, would most likely enjoy this book as well. The setting is unique and a little bit spooky but that's ok, too. Spooky can be enjoyable. A touch of magic always helps a good book, I think. I particularly enjoyed the early part where the first 'knitter' put a red thread in her husband's stockings before he went to fight with Mad Anthony Wayne. That made for a good tale. I like it. The sisters are very good characters and I did enjoy the ending, too. This is a writer that I want to keep track of and read other things she has written. It is a most imaginative, well written book.

When Lisa Van Allen first drew my attention, it was because her work was being hyped for 'fans of Sarah Addison Allen and Alice Hoffman' and I thought "Really?". I love both of the aforementioned authors and I was surprised to find a first novel being compared to their work. In fact, the only reasons I went ahead with my purchase were: 1. I loved the title and 2. the Kindle version was $1.99. So, imagine my chagrin when the book more than lived up to the comparisons. Lisa Van Allen knows how to tell a story. She knows how to create characters that you will not only be rooting for, but will love. She knows how to write about complicated relationships in a compelling manner. In short, Lisa Van Allen knows how to write and write well. The Wishing Thread is about family--new and old. It's about the tangled threads of family history, expectations and misunderstanding. The story focuses on three sisters, Bitty, Aubrey and Meggie, who are leading very different lives when the death of their Aunt Mariah brings them back together. Over the course of the story, these women come to realize that they aren't as different as they believe and that the love they feel for each other can make each life a little better than it was before. Throw in a little magic and some knitting, and you've got an amazing story that makes the reader want to cheer out loud for each woman as she comes to realize her strengths and her importance. I won't go into the actual story as I don't want to spoil it, but this is a wonderful, wonderful story that should be read by anyone looking for a little magic in her own life.

So good I've read it twice.. Makes me want to open a yarn shop in my tiny town. Because "women sitting in close circles with their knitting and crocheting, talking and drinking wine, were capable of big, dangerous things."

This is a story of magic from long ago and far away...sorta...that is passed down through the women. The women, sisters, weave spells and wishes into their knitting...sorta. The run-down town people come to them for desires and give them something dear, not money, to achieve their wishes. The sisters are thought of as witches...sorta. That is the first level of the story. The second layer is the sisters enlisting the whole town to knit all night to save the town. Shades of Practical Magic. The last layer of the story is the most important...the relationship between the sisters and learning to know self. Not a bad book. Not one you will read straight through because it requires thinking and insight. Very descriptive wording...beautiful even. Good, but takes a while to read.

There is so much to like about this well-written, charming little book: the history and tradition, the relationship between the sisters and bond of family, the uniting of a town. The idea of magic going into hand worked items was especially poignant because of my desire to create for people I love, including happy thoughts and prayers into each piece as I work. I can't recall lately reading a book with such well-developed and alive characters, every bit as endearing as they are flawed. Just as the characters were disappointed with the end result, so was I with the ending to the story; however, I do see the rationale and appropriateness of it. I believe these characters and their story will stay with me for a long time.