Threads of Life

A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle

By: Clare Hunter

Narrated by: Siobhan Redmond

A globe-spanning history of sewing, embroidery, and the people who have used a needle and thread to make their voices heard.

From the political propaganda of the Bayeux Tapestry, World War I soldiers coping with PTSD, and the maps sewn by schoolgirls in the New World, to the AIDS quilt, Hmong story clothes, and pink pussyhats, women and men have used the language of sewing to make their voices heard, even in the most desperate of circumstances.

Threads of Life is a chronicle of identity, protest, memory, power, and politics told through the stories of needlework. Clare Hunter, master of the craft, threads her own narrative as she takes us over centuries and across continents - from medieval France to contemporary Mexico and the United States, and from a POW camp in Singapore to a family attic in Scotland - to celebrate the age-old, universal, and underexplored beauty and power of sewing. Threads of Life is an evocative and moving book about the need we have to tell our story.

©2019 Clare Hunter (P)2021 Tantor

Brilliant perspective and delivery

I had to buy a hard copy of the book because there’s so much intriguing and tantalizing information that I want to go deeper into. Great stories.

If you sew you know

This scholarly celebration of needle arts, particularly embroidery, covers the globe. While centered in the author's home territory of Scotland she explores textile traditions from China and SouthEast Asia to Africa to Central and South America and the heartland of the United States.
The narrator's perfectly paced performance is easy listening.
The narration faded toward the end but that may have been my device.

Loved it

Such a phenomenal book for everyone interested in the hidden world of women in the past. Such an amazing find. Made me realise how powerful needle and threads have been in the shaping of our past. Truly blessed to have found this book.

Loved this book

This book was super engaging and full of useful information about the untold and unrecorded history of women’s needle art and sewing. A must read

Outstanding!

I did not know what I was getting into when I started this book. And I have loved every minute.

I dabble in various needle and fiber arts, especially since having my son. I’ve been surprised at how strange people’s reactions to my dabbling have been. Some of the women in my life have scoffed and expressed surprise (read disappointment or bafflement) that a woman such as I would spend my time in such a boring if not menial endeavor. After all, am I not a feminist? The men seem either way too excited at my shift to more traditional gender past times or they joke about how useful I am now that I can mend or make clothing for them (generously so as to not require pay for materials or time, of course). Note: My husband is not one of these men. I would not have married such a man.

What has stood out to me in these reactions, especially from the women in my life who see themselves, and by extension me, as being too “feminist” for needlepoint/embroidery/knitting/crochet/weaving/etc. is how the diminishing and disrespect for historically “women’s work” remains in such vibrancy. I have always been drawn to fiber and needle arts, but never really had the time or attention to dedicate to them before becoming a SAHM. I’ve always found them both fascinating and impressive. The mastery required to produce even the least artistic of these is notable to me. I’ve been frustrated about how clearly Americans (and perhaps most citizens of industrialized nations) have no understanding of what a thing is worth. Just because your grandma didn’t make that quilt on your bed doesn’t mean someone of value didn’t. And the fact that you think you shouldn’t have to pay more than $150 for a quilt doesn’t mean that is worth, it just means you don’t see the work put into it. And that’s just a bedspread from Target.

This book illuminates the amount of work goes into needle arts while tracing the way the women who mastered these skills went from being highly respected to seen as silly and mindless. It’s a truly powerful accounting of what these skills are worth and how the silliness and mindlessness rests squarely on the shoulders of those who consume so readily the disrespect and diminishment of women specifically in this art form that carries the moniker of feminine.

Fantastic

Shows the importance of sowing both in the past and present and explains how it often gets overlooked since it is women’s work.

Textile bucket list.

Love this read. I must obtain the actual book. All the places mentioned would make an excellent travel venue. A stitchy vacation.

Love!

The history of something you don’t really think about. I thoroughly enjoyed my journey through Threads of Life!.

A Moving History of Needlework

I've had the hard copy of this book for years without actually reading it. Since discovering the audio book, I've listened to this three times and likely will do so again in the future. The narration is simply phenomenal. it's easy to forget that it's Redmond narrating and not Hunter. This isn't a comprehensive history of needle, thread and fabric; but the histories of needlework told are inspiring, heartbreaking and thought provoking. I hope Hunter sent a copy of this to the writing workshop leader who asked how her book on "knitting" was coming along.

Wonderful book

The writing was beautiful and helped me appreciate fabric arts so much more in the context of the history behind so much of it. Narration was well done as well.