The Union Quilters

This book had me poking my Civil War-buff husband constantly, asking him if the details, settings and attitudes really happened. Although I am just as much of a history nut as he is, his grasp of this era is beyond me. So he was surprised at how this “fiction” novel could set up these real events without making them seem just convenient plot devices–a criticism that generally steers him away from historical fiction in general, and makes me wish I'd just read a good nonfiction treatment of the period. I did not feel that way about this book.

My mother and I read this book at about the same time, discussing how much we admired the women and wondering aloud if we could be as resolute at banding together to make a community support network like the one in the book–the aid society that supported soldiers and their families during and after the war.

When a book can create this type of dialogue between people, I consider it a 5-star read that I want to recommend to others. I don't think you have to be familiar with the Elm Creek Quilt series to enjoy this novel, so it can be simply the starting point for anyone interested in American Civil War history, women's history, and/or quilting–take your pick, or pick them all.