Blog Tour: Sewing Can Be Dangerous and Other Small Threads by S.R. Mallery

Publication Date: December 16, 2013
Mockingbird Lane Press
Formats: eBook, Paperback, Audio Book
Pages: 276

Genre: Historical Fiction/Short Stories
Source: This book was given to me by Historical Fiction Virtual Book tours in exchange for an honest review.

The eleven long short stories in Sewing Can Be Dangerous and Other Small Threads combine history, mystery, action and/or romance, and range from drug trafficking using Guatemalan hand-woven wallets, to an Antebellum U.S. slave using codes in her quilts as a message system to freedom; from an ex-journalist and her Hopi Indian maid solving a cold case together involving Katchina spirits, to a couple hiding Christian passports in a comforter in Nazi Germany; from a wedding quilt curse dating back to the Salem Witchcraft Trials, to a mystery involving a young seamstress in the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire; from a 1980's Romeo and Juliet romance between a rising Wall Street financial "star"and an eclectic fiber artist, to a Haight-Asbury love affair between a professor and a beautiful macrame artist gone horribly askew, just to name a few.

My Review: Sewing Can Be Dangerous is a collection of short stories that incorporates action, mystery, and history. These topics also focus on social injustice such as drug trafficking, slavery, abuse, and prejudices. Each of these stories are connected through sewing. For not only does it involve threads, but also in some stories it connects the present to the past. For a person from the present is interested in an event from the past, and digs to find the truth of the person and the incident.

I found these stories to be very intriguing. I like how in the historical short stories, the present introduces us to something that happened in the past, and it makes the reader curious to read what happened to that particular character. At first, I didn’t want to read about the person from the past because I thought that she was going to have a tragic ending, yet I was surprised that it was satisfactory. I also like the modern stories. They were also fun to read. In fact, I love all the endings in the short story. The writing is engaging, and the last sentence of each story is written beautifully.

The writing is very well-written and engaging. The characters of the story are well-developed. We get attached to these characters emotionally and want to see them triumph over their hardships. Some of the stories can be dark, but I find them deeply moving. Most of the stories lingered with me even after I read each word. I felt that I was there experiencing the characters’ hardships, and I didn’t move but just read on to see what had happened to them.

Overall, the story is about friendship, love, and family. This collection of stories offers something for everyone, for it covers a broad range of genres, and also has contemporary and historical storylines. This book is also great for anyone whose favorite hobby is sewing. Thus, this book was a fun read.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Buy the Audio Book

Sewing Can Be Dangerous and Other Small Threads is now in AUDIO!!! Listen to narrator, Suzie Althens, breathe life and depth into these stories!

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About the Author

S.R. Mallery has worn various hats in her life.

First, a classical/pop singer/composer, she moved on to the professional world of production art and calligraphy. Next came a long career as an award winning quilt artist/teacher and an ESL/Reading instructor. Her short stories have been published in descant 2008, Snowy Egret, Transcendent Visions, The Storyteller, and Down In the Dirt.

Unexpected Gifts, her debut novel, is currently available on Amazon. Sewing Can Be Dangerous and Other Small Threads, her collection of short stories, Jan. 2014, both books by Mockingbird Lane Press.

For more information please visit S.R. Mallery's website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.

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