The Thread Collectors: A Novel

Join us at the Jewish Museum on March 20, 2025 at 6:30pm in conjunction with the Jewish Book Council for a converasation with authors and creators whose work demonstrates the importance of storytelling in Black and Jewish communities, including Alyson Richmond and Shaunna Edwards, co-authors of The Thread Collectors. Click here to purchase tickets.

by Shaunna J. Edwards (Author), Alyson Richman (Author)

1863: In a small Creole cottage in New Orleans, an ingenious young Black woman named Stella embroiders intricate maps on repurposed cloth to help enslaved men flee and join the Union Army. Bound to a man who would kill her if he knew of her clandestine activities, Stella has to hide not only her efforts but her love for William, a Black soldier and a brilliant musician. Meanwhile, in New York City, a Jewish woman stitches a quilt for her husband, who is stationed in Louisiana with the Union Army. Between abolitionist meetings, Lily rolls bandages and crafts quilts with her sewing circle for other soldiers, too, hoping for their safe return home. But when months go by without word from her husband, Lily resolves to make the perilous journey South to search for him. As these two women risk everything for love and freedom during thebrutal Civil War, their paths converge in New Orleans, where an unexpected encounter leads them to discover that even the most delicate threads have the capacity to save us. Loosely inspired by the authors' family histories, this stunning novel will stay with readers for a long time.

Paperback

384 pages