Jennifer Chiaverini, The Lost Quilter

The Lost Quilter

Jennifer Chiaverini

Simon and Schuster, Mar 31 2009, $24.00

ISBN: 9781416533160

Master Quilter Sylvia Bergstrom Compson cherishes her special an antique quilt with an incredible history. Some call it "Birds in the Air" based on the design; others call it the "Runaway Quilt" after the runaway slave who sewed it; and finally "the Elm Creek Quilt" where Joanna the slave reached having ridden the Underground Railroad in 1859.

Slave catchers caught Joanna and brought her back to her owner, Josiah Chester in Virginia, but she left behind with the Bergstrom family, her son. Hans and Anneke Bergstrom and Aunt Gerda raised the child as their own; concealing his true identity. In the present Sylvia searches Gerda's diary and Joanna's quilt for clues as to the identity of the runaway slave who stitched a masterpiece.

The best Elm Creeks Quilt tale in years, THE LOST QUILTER answers many of the questions raised in THE RUNAWAY QUILT. The story of Joanna to include her punishment following her recapture makes for a fresh tale with much of her early saga sewed into the quilt. Fans of the series will relish Joanna's tale of bondage and liberty; as she as THE LOST QUILTER wants the freedom for her and her loved ones to soar like the birds in the air of THE RUNAWAY QUILT.

Harriet Klausner