Submitted by Dianne McD.
Have you ever heard of a Hope quilt? I hadn’t until the other day when the author of a new novel called “Scraps” reached out to MPS to tell us about his newest novel. Dr. Ted M. Moore was inspired to write this novel by the Hope quilt that his mother had made for his father while he was flying missions during World War II. In fact, the photo on the book cover is of the actual quilt his mother made.
Dr. Moore summarizes his novel in this way:
Jake Conner has spent the last three years fighting a war he never really believed in. As he returns to his Arkansas home – his best friend in a makeshift coffin – he wants nothing more than a life removed from the senselessness of war. Fruitful days on his farm with his sons Steven and Glen. Peaceful nights with his wife Sue beneath the quilt she made for him in the hope he would indeed one day return.
But life is neither its happiest moments nor its darkest days. It is a tapestry of scraps, like the quilt itself. And in the years that follow, the owners of that quilt will see life in all its fullness, for better or worse. It will shelter Steven in his final hours. It will comfort an adopted daughter in the aftermath of unspeakable tragedy.
From parent to child, generation to generation, Scraps will witness joy and sorrow, good and evil, and the people who experience it all. It will journey with Glen and Lucy from the remote soil of Arkansas to the burgeoning city of Dallas. It will accompany Rachel and experience wealth and society in Boston. It will travel with Mary and Jeremiah to Chicago and encounter violence and bloodshed.
And when it’s needed most, it will find its way home once more to Sue, to say goodbye, before returning north again with her great granddaughter.
Scraps is a journey of love, loss and family spanning the years from the end of the Civil War through WW II.
You can find the paperback version of the book at several online book stores, many of which carry the electronic copy of the book as well. I’ll link you to Barnes and Noble for the paperback book, but you can search the book title for other book stores if you wish. Amazon carries the Kindle version.
To all of you that will read this novel, we’d love to hear a book report! Do you have a favorite novel that involves a quilt? Tell us the title in the comments below.
Thank you for this suggestion. I am always looking for a good read. Rosalie
This story is an inspiring tribute to all who quilt. It gives life to the art we do. Scrappy quilts are so rich with fabrics and sometimes you know where they once were used and sometimes not. I love all those scrappy quilts I have been fortunate enough to own. I cannot wait to find the book. Thank you Dianne for this wonderful rememberance of our quilting heritage.
Thanks Diane, this is next on my Kindle. Jessica