Customer Reviews

The Runaway Quilt (Elm Creek Quilts Series #4)

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was truly a book that I could not put down. It is the first of the Elm Creek books that I read and now I have purchased the rest to enjoy. The flow of the story was wonderful. And I easily moved between the days of Gerda and the modern day Sylvia. It is at once a mystery and a tale of adventure and romance.

Through Ms. Chiaverini's skillful writing, we feel equally at home in either the 19th or 21th centuries. So skillful and artistic are her desceiptions, that we, the readers are front and center with our two leading ladies at all times.

The cast of extras, from Hans and Andrew to Dorothea and Grace, all add to the rich tapestry that makes up this story.

Whether you are a quilter or not, this book puts us in touch with the past and reminds us to look back and see the fiber from which we are all made. If you are not a quilter, it certainly is an inspiration to try it out as a hobby

We are never quite sure of the answer to the questions in Sylvia's mind, but that does not matter. What we do know however, is that in her past were brave and daring people who stood for what was right in a time when so much was wrong.

This is by far the best of the series! Each story in the Quilt series is better than the one before. This is a completely satisfying story: part mystery, part history lesson, and part geneology study.
After a speaking engagement, Sylvia is approached by one of the attendees. Margaret Alden has an old family quilt that has always been called The Elm Creek quilt, and she wants to share her information with Sylvia. This sparks Sylvia's curiosity, and she sets out to find the old quilts her Aunt Lucinda used to tell her about, quilts that were used as signals on the Underground Railroad.
What Sylvia finds is so much more. She finds a journal written by Gerda, Hans' sister, the founders of the Bergstrom legacy. In the memoir, Sylvia finds more questions than answers. In the journal, Gerda reveals family secrets, and she introduces Sylvia to someone she never knew existed: a pregnant runaway named Joanna, who the Bergstroms hide from slave catchers and who is almost their undoing.
Sylvia is confronted with the uncertainty of her own family history, and is left with a question that is never answered by Gerda's journal. With the help of her fellow Elm Creek Quilters, as well as descendants of Gerda's closest friends, Sylvia is able to face these uncertainties and reaffirm her moral center.

Jennifer Chiaverini has written the best yet in her now four-part Elm Creek Quilts novel. Sylvia Bergstrom and her friends have experienced the astounding growth of their recently-founded quilter's retreat at beautiful Elm Creek Manor. Sylvia is thrown for a loop, however, when Margaret Alden, a Southern woman, shows her a quilt she believes was made by one of her ancestors, or one of their slaves, in a pattern called Elm Creek. The quilt unmistakeably details her manor, but it throws her understanding of her family history into turmoil. Sylvia had always been lead to believe that the Bergstrom family were participants in the underground railroad - could they really have been slave owners? If not, how could a quilt that so clearly resembles her home have come to be part of the family history of a slaveowning family?

Sylvia decides to look for some family quilts of her own, to help her piece together the mystery. She finds a trunk in her attic filled with what are precious treasures to her - a birds of the air quilt, and a log cabin quilt with a black center square. Family lore had always held that a log cabin with a black center square was a signal to fugitive slaves that they could find safe respite in a home. To Sylvia's surprise, wrapped in the quilts was a diary, that of Gerda Bergstrom, the sister to Hans and Anneke Bergstrom, the founders of the Bergstrom empire. Gerda's diary details her family history -- throwing some shocking loops to Sylvia along the way.

This is a beautifully written book, and very entertaining. The book shows how women's work, even during the Civil War era, was not confined exclusively to the domestic sphere, and how women were able to create family treasures that endured. The Runaway Quilt, with its novelization of Civil War history, is likely to interest a far broader audience than the earlier Elm Creek Quilts novel, while keeping Chiaverini's fans hoping that the series will continue.

I have loved all of her books but this is definitely her best effort yet. The depth and breadth of her research and the characters she developed through the journal were absolutely mesmerizing. Thank you for a great read.

Elm Creek Manor, the estate owned by Sylvia Bergstrom Compson, is doing quite well as a quilter's camp and resort. The founding members of the business now see fifty campers per week coming to learn and exchange interests. The business is a success beyond their wildest dreams and Sylvia now has a new lease on life. She makes peace with her remaining in-laws, has more friends than she can count, and even has a guy that wants to marry her.

She's very proud of her family heritage and when she discovers the diary of Gerda Bergstrom, she can't wait to read it. Once she begins, she realizes that Annekee and Hans, Sylvia's ancestors and Gerda's brother and sister in law, are not the paragons of virtue she was led to believe. In fact, one of Annette's actions is so horrible that it affects Sylvia in the present, making her doubt who she is and from whom she came.

If the audience is not interested in genealogy before reading THE RUNAWAY QUILT, they will be after finishing it. The author shows how using primary and secondary resources, a person can learn about their family over five generations ago. Jennifer Chiaverini is a brilliant storyteller who creates characters we've grow to care about especially when they're in the middle of a quandary.

Harriet Klausner

Janet Chiaverini's series, The Elm Creek Quilts Novels, get better with each book. In this latest one of the series, Sylvia meets a woman named Margaret who has a quilt which her family calls the Elm Creek Quilt. Thinking that they may be related in some way, Sylvia and Margaret look at the quilt and discuss their ancestors, hoping for a connection. When they cannot find one, Sylvia returns to her home on Elm Creek and begins looking in the attic for more clues. She uncovers some quilts and a journal, which she has never seen before. As she reads the journal, many of Sylvia's questions about her ancestors are answered, but some more remain. The story of how quilts may have played a part in the Underground Railroad is a fascinating one, and the journal tells a story which keeps the reader, and Sylvia spellbound to the end. This book is highly recommended!

I literally could not put this book down! As an avid quilter and mystery lover with an interest in history, this book was perfect! I really enjoyed reading about Sylvia Bergstrom's ancestors and how they founded Elm Creek Manor. (I wish the quilt camp really existed, I would love to attend!) I found the part of the book that was Gerda's story to be fascinating, and being from Pennsylvania, I enjoyed reading about PA's role in the underground railroad. This is the first Elm Creek Quilts book I have read, and I can't wait to read the rest! I can't remember when I have gotten so drawn into a book, and enjoyed it so thouroughly!

I loved this book. The author did a wonderful job in developing the the characters. It was a very heart warming story. One of those books you can't put down and hate to reach the end.

I have to fully agree with Shirley Leib's assessment of this wonderful book. I just finished it, and I too, could not put it down. There are few books written so passionatley that they have reduced me to tears. This book, however, brings the reader right to the heart of its characters. Let's just say, more than one tissue was required in the final chapters of this story.

I am anxious to get to the library on Monday so I can check out another of Jennifer Chiaverini's books. I can think of several people who will be getting this book from me at Christmas!

I am thoroughly enjoying the reading all Chiaverini's Elm Creek Quilt novels. I am on the fifth novel now and so far The Runaway Quilt, #4, is without a doubt her best! Fast paced, with historically correct data used throughout related to the possible use of underground railroad quilts. Very believable and enlightening. A great read. Couldn't put it down!