Threads

THREADS by Edie Ayala, book cover image

THREADS is a story of shared resilience and redemption. One woman has a remarkable gift, another woman desperately needs one, and the two are unwittingly connected by a man in the middle.

After a tragic loss, a woman seeks consolation by knitting hundreds of magnificent little sweaters. When one of the sweaters is inadvertently shipped to Chile, it is stolen by a poverty-stricken single mother, who creatively repurposes it.

Irene’s life in a privileged neighborhood of small town Canada is all going according to plan. But when she loses a child to sudden infant death, she is unable to cope. But then, she rediscovers the familiar joy and comfort of knitting. So she begins. The problem is that she never stops, and in her obsession, she knits and hoards a series of extraordinary children’s sweaters.

Seeking to end it, her husband finally donates the sweaters to a charity. While most of the sweaters are sold locally, one of them is inadvertently shipped off to Chile where Columba, a single mother who works at a used clothing depot, steals it. Columba is also struggling with the loss of a child, albeit in entirely different circumstances. But like Irene, she finds solace in the little sweater. And besides, if she hadn’t rescued it, it would have languished amidst the tons of North American garbage that is routinely dumped in the used clothing cemetery of the Atacama Desert. The sweater isn’t the only thing Columba steals but it’s the most magnificent. Eventually, her thievery is discovered and she must find another way to survive.

Back in Canada, Irene’s sweaters are sold through a boutique and they become a hot item—to the point where they give rise to a local sweater cult. But when Irene spies her sweaters in the store window and then sees strange children wearing them on the street, she’s outraged. She begins to steal them back and it all gets very out of hand. Meanwhile, in Chile, Columba is so grateful for the miraculous little sweater that she conceives a way to share its mystical powers with her neighbors. 

Sprinkled with magic realism and humor, this multi-narrative story exposes cultural differences, social inequities and global environmental damage caused by hyper-consumerism. But it’s really about two women in search of consolation and our shared humanity.

Threads

A story of shared resilience and redemption…

One woman has a remarkable gift, another woman desperately needs one, and the two are unwittingly connected by a man in the middle.

THREADS by Edie Ayala, book cover image

After a tragic loss, a woman seeks consolation by knitting hundreds of magnificent little sweaters. When one of the sweaters is inadvertently shipped to Chile, it is stolen by a poverty-stricken single mother, who creatively repurposes it.

Irene’s life in a privileged neighborhood of small town Canada is all going according to plan. But when she loses a child to sudden infant death, she is unable to cope. But then, she rediscovers the familiar joy and comfort of knitting. So she begins. The problem is that she never stops, and in her obsession, she knits and hoards a series of extraordinary children’s sweaters.

Seeking to end it, her husband finally donates the sweaters to a charity. While most of the sweaters are sold locally, one of them is inadvertently shipped off to Chile where Columba, a single mother who works at a used clothing depot, steals it. Columba is also struggling with the loss of a child, albeit in entirely different circumstances. But like Irene, she finds solace in the little sweater. And besides, if she hadn’t rescued it, it would have languished amidst the tons of North American garbage that is routinely dumped in the used clothing cemetery of the Atacama Desert. The sweater isn’t the only thing Columba steals but it’s the most magnificent. Eventually, her thievery is discovered and she must find another way to survive.

Back in Canada, Irene’s sweaters are sold through a boutique and they become a hot item—to the point where they give rise to a local sweater cult. But when Irene spies her sweaters in the store window and then sees strange children wearing them on the street, she’s outraged. She begins to steal them back and it all gets very out of hand. Meanwhile, in Chile, Columba is so grateful for the miraculous little sweater that she conceives a way to share its mystical powers with her neighbors. 

Sprinkled with magic realism and humor, this multi-narrative story exposes cultural differences, social inequities and global environmental damage caused by hyper-consumerism. But it’s really about two women in search of consolation and our shared humanity.

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“Threads is a captivating story of intertwined lives and fates of the characters united by the emotional connection of grief, love, and hope.

With the beautiful incorporation of magical realism and sentimental resonance, this book will win your heart with its charmingly engaging narration and characters. The author’s flair for creating stories with character-driven plot is utterly impeccable as it gives these characters a touch of reality. The other themes of hyperconsumerism and environmental deterioration has been time to time explored in this book.”
– Judiex, LibraryThing reviewer

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Wonderful story-telling: How can two completely different worlds be so connected? This is what Threads deals with in a gripping way – I say gripping because I was constantly curious to see what would happen next to each of the characters. It made me laugh and cry and think about how one or two small actions can have a massive impact on somewhere or someone far away. Edie Ayala’s characters are what I loved the most – a real insight into human nature.
– Kindle Reviewer, UK

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“This odd little novel bounces between an affluent British Columbia town and a poverty-stalked village in Chile… Ayala  flirts with magical realism here, takes a couple of swipes at New Age Paganism, and frowns severely at first-world consumerism… As a knitter, I was particularly enchanted by the descriptions of the sweaters and by Irene’s use of them to create a barrier between herself and her grief.”
– LyndainOregan, LibraryThing review

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E-book ISBN 978-0-9880032-1-7

Print book ISBN 978-0-9880032-0-0
6” x 9” paperback, 314 pages

FIC000000 FICTION / General
FIC051000 FICTION / Cultural Heritage
SOC015000 SOCIAL SCIENCE / Human Geography

Publisher: Stories with Character

Print book 15.99 USD
Ebook 6.99 USD