Weekend Review: The Dream Stitcher

The Dream Stitcher / Deborah Gaal
Anchor House Press, c2018
295 p.

This was a random discovery for me, via my library, and a great find. It's a novel that moves between the USA in 2008, and WWII Poland, following a family line of women. It starts out rather fantastical, and has elements of magic throughout, particularly in regards to embroidery. But it also has realistic historical content and strong characters.

Goldye is the titular Dream Stitcher: in Poland she discovers an uncanny skill at embroidery early on (readers will know why). She's taken in by Kaminski Fabrics, and stitches magical wedding dresses for Christian brides. When the Germans come, Mr. Kaminski claims her as an Aryan niece from France, and Goldye changes her name to Anna to survive. But she is still in love with her Jewish resistance fighter, and uses her magical embroidery to fight in her own way. She's so good that a German officer takes interest in her, and requires her to accompany him to France to interpret the mystical imagery of the Bayeux Tapestry, which the Nazis are convinced tells of their victory. 

In 2008, we meet Maude, recently widowed and in financial straits. She has to take her mother out of the home she's been in, too expensive to continue it. When she moves her mother Bea home, she brings along a large recreation of the Bayeux Tapestry that the nurses say she stitched while there, even though Maude has never known her mother to sew anything at all. Maude's pregnant daughter also moves home, and they try to understand the family secrets that start leaking out, especially due to the large tapestry Maude has hung in the living room. 

I thought this was a fascinating read. It melds history, fantasy, mystery and some thriller-y bits too. Plus there is a lot about the magical power to stitch reality that Goldye holds, and what it can and can't accomplish. There are a couple of troubling scenes of sexual violence, during the war, readers should be aware. It can be hard to read, but it's all disturbingly real. The historical elements are strong and the WWII sections are compelling. 

When we hit the contemporary chapters, it is fascinating to feel the difference in narrative tone. Maude is flippant and childish at times, and the writing reflects this. It's like the whole story turns into Maude's story with a minute adjustment to tone. I thought it was really interesting! Maude's story slowly begins to link into Goldye's but what I thought was coming was not what was finally revealed. What a great build up to the conclusion, it surprised me. 

This was an unusual read, unexpected and memorable. I'm still thinking about it. The embroidery was a key part to the book, and makes me want to go see the Bayeux Tapestry - it's in England starting this fall, at the British Museum, for the first time in nearly 1000 years. That would be fascinating. 

But the characters and the creative storytelling are also fresh and engaging here. I am so glad I stumbled across this book.