The Quilter's Legacy (Elm Creek Quilts Series #5) [Hardcover]

Jennifer Chiaverini (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2003

When precious heirloom quilts hand-stitched by her mother turn up missing from the attic of Elm Creek Manor, Sylvia Bergstrom Compson resolves to find them. From scant resources-journal entries, receipts, and her own fading memories-she pieces together clues, then queries quilting friends from around the world. When dozens of leads arrive via the Internet, Sylvia and her fiance, Andrew, embark on a nationwide investigation of antique shops and quilt museums.

Sylvia's quest leads her to unexpected places, where offers of assistance are not always what they seem. As the search continues, revelations surface about her mother, who died when Sylvia was only a child. Burdened with poor health and distant parents, Eleanor Lockwood defies her family by marrying for love. Far from her Manhattan home, she embraces her new life among the Bergstroms-but although warmth and affection surround Eleanor at last, the Bergstroms cannot escape the tragedies of their times.

As Sylvia recovers some of the missing quilts and accepts others as lost forever, she reflects on the woman her mother was, and mourns the woman she never knew. For every woman who has yearned to know the untold story of her mother's life, and for every mother who has longed to be heard, THE QUILTER'S LEGACY will resonate with heartfelt honesty as it reveals what tenuous connections bind the generations, and celebrates the love that sustains them.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Chiaverini's fifth and best Elm Creek Quilts novel again stitches together a patchwork of American life. This time she focuses on Elm Creek Quilts founder Sylvia Bergstrom Compson and her search for five quilts made by her mother, Eleanor, who died when Sylvia was 10. Sylvia and Eleanor's stories alternate, as Sylvia, an elderly widow now recovered from a stroke, prepares to marry her friend Andrew despite his children's opposition, while at the turn of the century, Eleanor, daughter of an affluent New York family, defies her mother by attending a suffragette meeting and quilting with her beloved nanny, Amelia Langley. When Eleanor's sister, Abigail, elopes with her father's business rival, Eleanor also runs away rather than be forced to marry Abigail's jilted fianc‚. On her way out the door, Eleanor is offered a ride by Fred Bergstrom, which becomes the beginning of a long life together on his Pennsylvania horse farm at Elm Creek. The novel's high point is the poignantly detailed description of the flu epidemic of 1918. Less historical but equally touching is Eleanor's aging mother's arrival at the horse farm. Chiaverini's storytelling skills have noticeably improved. She approaches but never succumbs to sentimentality and keeps her account of hunts for antique quilts from becoming too predictable. She remains a keener observer of subtleties in quilts than in people, and more adept at capturing friendship than romance, but her gift for visual imagery (Abigail going down with the Titanic; Eleanor's quilts recast as wearable art) and gentle humor (a museum exhibit's explanation of one quilt's origins) blend seamlessly into prose that, like the needlework she portrays, proves intricate, lovely, comforting and uniquely American.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In this fifth work in a beloved series, Sylvia's hunt to find her dead mother's missing quilts helps her discover a past she never knew.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743236130
• ISBN-13: 978-0743236133
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #253,262 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jennifer Chiaverini lives with her husband and two sons in Madison, Wisconsin. In addition to the sixteen volumes in the Elm Creek Quilts series and four books of quilt patterns inspired by the novels, she designs the Elm Creek Quilts fabric line from Red Rooster Fabrics. For more information about Jennifer, please visit her website at www.elmcreek.net .

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Return to Elm Creek Quilts, August 3, 2003

By 

Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Quilter's Legacy (Elm Creek Quilts Series #5) (Hardcover)

Like a beautiful old quilt, this books builds bit by bit into a fascinating tapestry of family history. There are actually two stories, told in parallel fashion about Sylvia Bergstrom Compson and her mother Eleanor. Sylvia is about to be married to her beau Andrew and before this momentous event, she has some unfinished business. She decides to look for five quilts which her mother Eleanor made when she was a young child. Her mother died when she was young, so she had never had time to get to know her well, but she wanted the quilts as her mother's legacy. Eleanor's story revolves around her delicate health and the difficult relationship she had with her critical, overbearing mother. Eleanor and her sister both defied their mother's wishes when choosing husbands, and her mother never forgave them for what she viewed as rebellion. These stories weave in and out as Sylvia pursues her mother's quilts and the end product is a very satisfying read. This book can stand alone, but it will probably make more sense, particularly with regard to the minor characters, if you read the other 4 books in the series first.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quilters and Non-Quilters Alike Will Love This Tale, April 18, 2003

By 

Bookreporter (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Quilter's Legacy (Elm Creek Quilts Series #5) (Hardcover)

Jennifer Chiaverini's storytelling gift is surpassed only by her knowledge of the art of quilting. She ably entwines the craft with the lore in the sixth of a series beloved by fans of the Elm Creek Quilts series.

Sylvia Bergstrom Compton, director of the Elm Creek Manor, is preparing for her late-in-life wedding to her longtime friend, Andrew. She decides that, instead of making a new wedding quilt, she will use the beautiful masterpiece quilt pieced by her mother, Eleanor. Sylvia's mother died at age 30 and Sylvia barely remembers her, but she does remember the beautiful quilts that adorned the beds of her childhood home. She climbs to the attic of the Manor to rummage through crates and trunks and discovers to her dismay that not a single quilt remains. Sylvia left home at an early age and her sister had sold the valuable quilts decades earlier when the family fell on hard times.

Sylvia's younger Manor employees help her launch an Internet search. Through emails and phone calls, Sylvia learns of quilts in homes, museums and shops that match the descriptions of those she most vividly remembers from her childhood. Sylvia and Andrew set out on a nationwide tour in Andrew's motor home to follow the scraps of information.

THE QUILTER'S LEGACY chronicles the search for her mother's masterpiece quilts and, thus, the history of Eleanor's life in Manhattan and Pennsylvania at the turn of the 20th century. Sylvia learns that her mother defied her parent's Victorian dictum to marry to enhance the family fortune by eloping with the man she loves. The hardships and glories of the early years, from the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic to the sinking of the Titanic weigh upon Eleanor's family. Sylvia and Andrew ramble through museums, antiques and crafts stores from California to Iowa to Pennsylvania in search, not only of the quilts, but of her mother's past.

As Sylvia recovers some of the lost quilts and resigns herself to the loss of those that can never be found, she rejoices in discovering her own legacy. Women who quilt will revel in the detail and history of famous patterns and the stories they tell. For non-quilters, a door may be opened to tempt one to delve into this intriguing craft.

--- Reviewed by Roz Shea

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jennifer just keeps getting better with age!, July 9, 2003

By 

D. Braun (Coon Rapids,, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Quilter's Legacy (Elm Creek Quilts Series #5) (Hardcover)

I finally got the book and couldnt put it down!
I was saving it for vacation; read it in two days! two days before vacation and had to go on vacation without a book!
I love to quilt and I love to read and this book series has filled both things I Love!! Cant wait for the next book in the series!!!awesome book!!