Events

Inspired by the authors’ own fam­i­ly his­to­ries, The Thread Col­lec­tors is a rich his­tor­i­cal nov­el set dur­ing the Civ­il War about two women – one Black and yearn­ing for free­dom in New Orleans, the oth­er a Jew­ish abo­li­tion­ist in New York – whose resource­ful sewing to sup­port their com­mu­ni­ties leads them on unex­pect­ed, dan­ger­ous jour­neys as they fight to bring their beloveds home from the front. As the two women risk every­thing for love and free­dom dur­ing a bru­tal Civ­il War, their paths con­verge in New Orleans, where an unex­pect­ed encounter leads them to dis­cov­er that even the most del­i­cate threads have the capac­i­ty to save us.

Truth in fic­tion: Alyson’s great-great-great uncle, a Ger­man Jew, was a musi­cian in the Union army, where­as his broth­er fought for the oth­er side, allow­ing the nov­el in part to explore what hap­pens when fam­i­ly mem­bers hold oppos­ing views on some­thing as hor­rif­ic as slav­ery, espe­cial­ly when that fam­i­ly is a minor­i­ty in a new coun­try. The char­ac­ter of Stel­la is par­tial­ly inspired by Shaunna’s great-great-great Aunt Janie, a woman of Black and White parent­age who man­aged to become a finan­cial­ly inde­pen­dent landown­er while her rel­a­tives strug­gled to find eco­nom­ic sta­bil­i­ty. Shaunna’s fam­i­ly came to own a sug­ar­cane farm carved out of a plan­ta­tion that she and her sib­lings still own to this day.  Proud partner of the Jewish Book Council.

by April 7 - Price: $20, Member Price: $15, Senior Social Member Price: $8.50
after April 7 – Price: $24, Member Price: $18, Senior Social Member Price: $8.50
Delicious lunch catered by Schwartzie’s.

REGISTER