Stitches in Time

Just read the Georgetown Trilogy by Barbara Michaels:
Ammie, Come Home
Shattered Silk
Stitches in Time
They're not a tight series, but have enough commonalities to link them thematically. They are light, modern, Gothic novels (I hesitate to use the word romance although they qualify as romantic fiction) written by the late Barbara Michaels (who also published under the name Elizabeth Peters and her real name, Barbara Mertz). Set in and around Georgetown, they follow various members of the same family, and use the same setting.

Ammie, Come Home introduces us to the house inherited by Ruth Bennett, and the unpleasantness that ensues when her eldest niece, Sara comes to stay with her while attending college. Sara introduces Ruth to her show more Professor, Pat MacDougall, and when he starts courting Ruth, an unpleasant history starts repeating when a seance is held in the house.

Shattered Silk is set in the same house, but this time the threat is against Sara's younger sister, Karen. She has fled to her aunt when her marriage breaks down and is house-sitting while Ruth and Pat MacDougall go to Borneo. Karen gets mixed up in a murder mystery when she decides to go into business selling vintage clothes. This one has far less Gothic tropes than the others.

Stitches in Time is set outside Georgetown. Kara (she changed her name from Karen) and her business partner Cheryl sell vintage clothing and accessories from Cheryl's home. When Cheryl's husband Tony is injured in the line of duty (he's a police officer), Kara and Cheryl hire Rachel to help out while Cheryl and Tony visit relations. A prowler leaves a bag containing 3 heirloom quilts on the porch. These turn out to be the property of an elderly lady who died in the course of a burglary; one quilt is the trigger for history repeating.

At a guess the 3 books are set in the 70s and early 80s; although they don't reference specific dates the description of fashions suggests that era. They span some 12 years in time if not more. Although light and undemanding, they are written with Barbara Mertz's characteristic wit and sly humour and don't take themselves too seriously.

Eminently readable. show less

Just read the Georgetown Trilogy by Barbara Michaels:
Ammie, Come Home
Shattered Silk
Stitches in Time
They're not a tight series, but have enough commonalities to link them thematically. They are light, modern, Gothic novels (I hesitate to use the word romance although they qualify as romantic fiction) written by the late Barbara Michaels (who also published under the name Elizabeth Peters and her real name, Barbara Mertz). Set in and around Georgetown, they follow various members of the same family, and use the same setting.

Ammie, Come Home introduces us to the house inherited by Ruth Bennett, and the unpleasantness that ensues when her eldest niece, Sara comes to stay with her while attending college. Sara introduces Ruth to her show more Professor, Pat MacDougall, and when he starts courting Ruth, an unpleasant history starts repeating when a seance is held in the house.

Shattered Silk is set in the same house, but this time the threat is against Sara's younger sister, Karen. She has fled to her aunt when her marriage breaks down and is house-sitting while Ruth and Pat MacDougall go to Borneo. Karen gets mixed up in a murder mystery when she decides to go into business selling vintage clothes. This one has far less Gothic tropes than the others.

Stitches in Time is set outside Georgetown. Kara (she changed her name from Karen) and her business partner Cheryl sell vintage clothing and accessories from Cheryl's home. When Cheryl's husband Tony is injured in the line of duty (he's a police officer), Kara and Cheryl hire Rachel to help out while Cheryl and Tony visit relations. A prowler leaves a bag containing 3 heirloom quilts on the porch. These turn out to be the property of an elderly lady who died in the course of a burglary; one quilt is the trigger for history repeating.

At a guess the 3 books are set in the 70s and early 80s; although they don't reference specific dates the description of fashions suggests that era. They span some 12 years in time if not more. Although light and undemanding, they are written with Barbara Mertz's characteristic wit and sly humour and don't take themselves too seriously.

Eminently readable. show less

I read a handful of Barbara Michael books in the 90's and really remember enjoying them. This is part of a trilogy that starts with Aimee Come Home which was the first book of hers that I read and really loved. It has been a long time so I didn't really remember much about it except that it had a great gothic creepiness to it and sucked me in. Sadly, this did not do the same. I felt like the supernatural elements were not brought to life but rather discussed like a dissertation. It removed me from the action and bogged down the pacing. There was also a lot of talk about feminism while at the same time detailing lots of chauvinistic remarks and behaviors. That bothered me a lot and had me trying to remember if all her books were like show more this or just this one in particular. But I enjoyed it enough that I will try another Barbara Michaels book, as well as an occasional Amelia Peabody, in the future. show less

"When an antique bridal quilt appears under mysterious circumstances at the vintage clothing shop where Rachel Grant works, she is fascinated. She has never been able to resist handmade textiles from the past, for she believes that through the ages, women wove protective magic into their fabrics in order to mark the important events of their lives: birth, marriage, and death. But there is more than good in the quilt's magic power. Day by day Rachel sees and feels the power growing, as she senses the quilt influencing her thoughts and actions. "

The quilt bears the curse of its maker and the curse follows the descendants of the original victim.

I really enjoy the books Barbara Michaels writes. However, Stitches in Time just didn't work for me. I didn't like the main character who is lusting after the husband of a friend. I didn't like the woman that Karen (now called Kara) from Shattered Silk has become; her original kindness is now deeply buried. Kara's husband Mark was mostly a placeholder. I didn't like the woman that Cheryl has become -- fussy and scatterbrained. Tony is mostly there as a plot device. About the only people I really liked were Pat and Ruth from Ammie, Come Home and Adam, the lead male in this book.

For some reason this book didn't give me the spooky thrills that most of Barbara Michaels's books do. Instead it felt distasteful and left me feeling let down. show more Sadly I can only recommend it for people who want to read everything by the author or who have run out of her better books. show less

Stitches in Time by Barbara Michaels is the final book in the Georgetown trilogy. Rachel Grant, a graduate student who is studying quilting traditions has taken a job in a vintage clothing shop. While she's there, three exquisite quilts are left there. They were stolen and one of them appears to be cursed.

Most of the events take place during the holiday season at the home attached to the clothing boutique. Rachel, left to watch the house and the quilts, also falls prey to the worst of the curse. On top of that, she has a jealous, abusive boyfriend to contend with.

While I enjoyed the descriptions of the quilt as well as the methods for creating them, I found the paranormal aspects of the plot mired in rather hackneyed gender stereotypes. show more I think even for the mid 1990s when this book was first published, I would have found them tiresome. show less

This book really took me by surprise! It was a bit slow and confusing to start out with, but as it went on I became hooked. There's a mix of a subtle romance developing along with some paranormal aspects that I personally love. But none of it was so far out there that the average romance reader wouldn't have also enjoyed this book. Not to mention an element of mystery for those types of readers!