36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Underground Railroad Mystery, March 15, 2005
The Sugar Camp Quilt is the tale of Dorthea Granger, who during the period of unrest shortly before the civil war, must grow up quickly in the face of grave danger.
Her family lost their own farm to a flood and now lives under the unforgiving roof of her Uncle Jacob. He is a harsh, humourless, and unforgiving man who lost his beloved wife and twin sons to illness years before. This results in the farm potentially being willed upon Uncle Jacob's death, to Dorethea's brother who is back east studying medicine. So her parents work from sun up to sun down for Uncle Jacob, uncomplaining at his constant critiscim.
Uncle Jacob allows no one to get close to him, and bullies his niece into creating a quilt for him with several unusual blocks of his own design....it is only after his sudden death that Dorethea and her family discover the true meaning of the Sugar Camp Quilt. It throws her family into danger and mystery while at the same time showing a new side to Uncle Jacob that they never knew about.
The Sugar Camp Quilt book is a wonderful story, at first I missed the familiar characters from the previous Elm Creek Quilt books, but Dorthea's story was strong enough to keep me engrossed and I finished the book quickly. I gave it four stars only because it did not have the familiar characters in it, otherwise it would have been a 5 star review.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Prequel to "The Runaway Quilt", March 23, 2005
This book is set in the years preceding the Civil War, when feelings about slavery are running high. The heroine is Dorothea Granger who lives with her parents on her uncle's farm. Her father's farm was swept away in a flood and Uncle Jacob took in his sister and her family, when they had nowhere else to turn. Jacob is a harsh man and Dorothea's family lives uneasily under his strict rules, hoping that someday the farm will be left to her brother Jonathon, who is studying to be a doctor. Dorothea is not married, but one of the young men in the area shows a lot of interest in her. Their relationship is marred by the fact that their families stand on opposite sides of the Abolition question. The Grangers are steadfastly in favor of Abolition and they befriend their black neighbors, some of whom are former slaves. As the book continues, the tensions rise, until people's lives are put in jeopardy. As usual, author Chiaverini spins an interesting story with well-drawn characters and a plot in which a quilt plays a major part.
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointed, July 28, 2005
I was looking forward to reading this new book in the Elm Creek series. I was disappointed. The other Elm Creek books have been hard to put down once I started reading. I didn't have that problem reading The Sugar Camp Quilt. You knew what was going to happen between Dorthea and Thomas when they first met. I love historical novels but this one was boring. I hope Ms. Chiaverini's next book is more like her other books, The Quilter's Legacy and The Runaway Quilt.
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