Threads Voices

This is an analysis of the sociological and economic causes of the demise of certain traditions, such as the glowing, rich phulkaris of the Punjab. Also discussed are women embroiderers, working in traditions that are centuries old, but new to the marketplace and urban lifestyles. The book provides a moving account of the rites of passage of Rabari women who, empowered through their embroidery, have become their own designers and entrepreneurs, It shows through color photographs and text how craft has not only been a catalyst for personal growth and social and economic change but has also created new conflicts and challenges. Women who worked to their own rhythms and creative impulses now craft to tunes others play. Cultural influences from the outside world have infiltrated their aesthetic and homes. The articles included describe textiles and skills still used by people for themselves, rather than the courtly textiles of yesteryear. While India is poised between past and future, craft still maintains its place.

The idea for Dropped Threads: What We Aren't Told came up between Carol Shields and longtime friend Marjorie Anderson over lunch. It appeared that after decades of feminism, the “women's network” still wasn't able to prevent women being caught off-guard by life. There remained subjects women just didn't talk about, or felt they couldn't talk about. Holes existed in the fabric of women's discourse, and they needed examining. They asked thirty-four women to write about moments in life that had taken them by surprise or experiences that received too little discussion, and then they compiled these pieces into a book. It became an instant number one bestseller, a book clubs' favourite and a runaway success. Dropped Threads, says Anderson, "tapped into a powerful need to share personal stories about life's defining moments of surprise and silence." Readers recognized themselves in these honest and intimate stories; there was something universal in these deeply personal accounts. Other stories and suggestions poured in. Dropped Threads would clearly be an ongoing project. Like the first volume, Dropped Threads 2 features stories by well-known novelists and journalists such as Jane Urquhart, Susan Swan and Shelagh Rogers, but also many excellent new writers including teachers, mothers, a civil servant, a therapist. This triumphant follow-up received a starred first review in Quill and Quire magazine, which called it “compassionate and unflinching.” The book deals with such difficult topics as loss, depression, disease, widowhood, violence, and coming to terms with death. Several stories address some of the darker sides of motherhood: - A mother describes how, while sleep-deprived and in a miserable marriage, she is shocked to find infanticide crossing her mind. - Another woman recounts a memory of her alcoholic mother demanding the children prove their loyalty in a terrifying way. - A woman desperate for children refers to the bleak truth as: "Another Christmas of feeling barren." Narrating the fertility treatment she undergoes, the hopes dashed, she is amusing in retrospect and yet brutally honest. While they deal with loss and trauma, the pieces show the path to some kind of acceptance, showing the authors’ determination to learn from pain and pass on the wisdom gained. The volume also covers the rewards of learning to be a parent, choosing to remain single, or fitting in as a lesbian parent. It explores how women feel when something is missing in a friendship, how they experience discrimination, relationship challenges, and other emotions less easily defined but just as close to the bone: - Alison Wearing in “My Life as a Shadow” subtly describes allowing her personality to be subsumed by her boyfriend's. - Pamela Mala Sinha tells how, after suffering a brutal attack, she felt self-hatred and a longing for retribution. - Dana McNairn talks of her uncomfortable marriage to a man from a different social background: "I wanted to fit in with this strange, wondrous family who never raised their voices, never swore and never threw things at one another." Humour, a confiding tone, and beautiful writing elevate and enliven even the darkest stories. Details bring scenes vividly to life, so we feel we are in the room with Barbara Defago when the doctor tells her she has breast cancer, coolly dividing her life into a 'before and after.' Lucid, reflective and poignant, Dropped Threads 2 is for anyone interested in women's true stories.

She loves life in spite of everything. Conceived as the result of a rape, she herself was raped at the age of 14. Her name is Hilaria Supa Huamán. She is 47 years old and self-educated. She has lived in Lima, the capital of Peru. She now lives in Huallaccocha, in Cuzco. She campaigns for agriculture and for the women of the countryside. For more than 20 years, she has been dedicated to organizing women and preserving the ancient wisdom and culture of the Andes. For the last six years, she has also been working in search of justice for women who were forcibly sterilized.--1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize

**SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER** **RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK** **WATERSTONES SCOTTISH BOOK OF THE MONTH** 'An astonishing feat' Christina Patterson, Sunday Times 'An inspiring and moving sideways look at history' Eithne Farry, Sunday Express An eloquent blend of history and memoir, Threads of Life is an evocative and moving book about the need we all have to tell our story. From political propaganda in medieval France to secret treason in Tudor England, from the mothers of the desaparecidos in Argentina to First World War soldiers with PTSD, from a POW camp in Singapore to a family attic in Scotland, Threads of Life is a global chronicle of identity, protest, memory and politics. Banner-maker, community textile artist and textile curator Clare Hunter chronicles the stories of the men and women, over centuries and across continents, who have used the language of sewing to make their voices heard, even in the most desperate of circumstances. 'A beautifully considered book... Clare Hunter has managed to mix the personal with the political with moving results.' TRACY CHEVALIER

Tukhachevsky - Trotsky Collaboration