August 13, 2007
The latest in the author’s Elm Creek Quilts series finds septuagenarian Sylvia Compson determined not to repeat past mistakes. Having married on Christmas Eve at Elm Creek Manor, the family homestead turned quilter’s haven, Sylvia and longtime family friend Andrew Cooper have to face the music and tell Andrew’s children, especially his bitter daughter, Amy. On the way, master quilter Sylvia plies at a long unfinished quilt she calls New Year’s Reflections, which she plans to give Amy in the hope of reconciliation. Elaborate memories of Sylvia’s German-American childhood include a long rift with elder sister Claudia. Chiaverini’s stitching is sound.
October 1, 2007
Chiaverini brings back her Elm Creek Quilts characters for another holiday outing (following 2005's "The Christmas Quilt"). Master quilter Sylvia is making a holiday quilt for her new stepdaughter, Amy, who is less than thrilled with her father's remarriage. With 11 stories of family and memories in the series, expect demand from fans of Chiaverini's best-selling gentle read series.
Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
November 15, 2007
Shortly after her Christmas wedding to Andrew, they are off to New York to visit her mothers childhood home, a home Sylvia knew little about because of family estrangements. She ponders those estrangementsher mothers from her grandmother; Sylvias from her sister, Claudia; and the prospect of Andrews from his children, who disapprove of their marriageas she works diligently on one of her most heartfelt pieces. The New Years quilt is meant for Amy, Andrews daughter, a gift to hopefully forestall the kind of family tension that Sylvia had long suffered. As she works on her quilt and visits her mothers childhood home, Sylvia recalls memories of her own childhood, the joys of familial closeness, and the pain of long-heldirreconcilable disagreements. Fans of the Elm Creek Quilts series will love this latest installment, which fills in Sylvias history.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)