Customer Reviews

Loose Threads

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This is a very compelling read. Loose Threads traces a professional woman (Ellen) through her demanding career in the foreign service, the excitment of travel and the demands of the U.S. diplomatic core. While intellectually fulfilled as a diplomat, her personal life is challenged by the lack of a meaningful relationship. While in D.C. Ellen mets a wonderful man that she is powerfully attracted to, but doubts if anything could ever work given the demands of her career. She is convinced by Jack to leave her career behind and agrees to marry and move to the West Coast. While her marriage centers her day to day life, and the demands of motherhood satisfies her need to nurture, Ellen still feels something missing. After ten years of marriage, she decides to leave the children with Jack, and heads off for a personal retreat, a chance to rediscover her inner self. Ellen visits her sister in New Mexico, a successful artist and is introduced to a most intriguing set of characters. She is completely overtaken by the opportunity to explore her own creative side. The challenge Ellen is now faced with, is how does she integrate all this into her present life as a spouse, mother and an artist?

What I look for in a good book is adventure that takes me out of my everyday life and provides exciting escape. Through Loose Threads I felt like I was actually traveling to far off exotic locales and feeling the confidence of a politically-minded, intelligent, working woman through Ellen. She has the courage to do what most of us only dream about; challenge the issues you need to sort out in your life and pursue your dreams. I felt a kinship with Ellen because I could identify with the challenges she was wrestling with. She provides the companionship to the reader throughout the story that most of us are looking for but are too busy and isolated to find. Loose Threads was a much needed escape and at the same time, a thought provoking story.

Ms. Burgess' novel is a great read beginning to end and left me wanting more! I am one of those who could not put it down and read straight through the night. The characters are extremely well developed creating an instant connection - I wanted to know more about these people and what was to come in the future! I have read this novel several times and am moved more each time I read it. Through the magic of Ms. Burgess' talent with the written word the reader can actually "feel" the bond between Ellen and those who became a part of her life. We are waiting for an encore to Loose Threads!

Loose Threads is a great read. It has passion, great travel segments, love, danger, self-discovery. It pulled me (a professional and small business owner) along so I read it through almost non-stop. I loaned it to a retired professional friend, who read it through the night to about 3:00 pm the following day. She could not put it down. She said it was her story. Then, my daughter, a young career person read it. She said it was so close to the bone, she had to read it in small segments. A long way of saying this book is engaging, enormously well written and fresh. I recommend it!

Loose Threads by Glenda Burgess is a great book to take on a long much deserved vacation--the kind of book to tote around, dig into, get back to, read with a glass of good wine by the beach. Highly recommended--as one who travels long continental distances and needs a good book to pass the hours!

Novelist Burgess begins with sleight of hand: we have a succesfull diplomat in a political high profile world, yet the road dead-ends. This novel asks the question: In today's fast-paced world, how does anyone find a life that matters? Ellen Stein is about to risk everything, following that one loose thread... A novel rich in detail about the world of international diplomacy, and the inner obcessions of struggling artists, Loose Threads is a sophisticated, intelligent read: direct and powerful, with passages of eloquent writing that ensures we will be seeing more of this author in the future.