Threads

Oh, what a miraculous book this is: parochial, weird and inconclusive in a way that few books dare to be these days, and illustrated so generously, with something beautiful or interesting on every other page. Buy it, and let it take you out to sea, no sou’wester required. – Rachel Cooke * Observer *
Wonderful… I lay down her book without knowing the cause of the “mental stupors” that defined Craske’s life, or understanding his relationship to his complicated family, but feeling I had inhaled the cold salt of the East Anglian coastline from which he sailed when he was well, and run my fingers across the bright wool of the embroideries he made when he was not. – Helen Brown, 5 stars * Daily Telegraph *
I believe I have already found my book of the year. Blackburn’s “biography”… almost defies the category… But it is so beautifully and hypnotically done that each page leaves you spellbound. Rarely can such an unusual telling so thoroughly, and so movingly, reflect the nature of the life being told. – Lesley McDowell * Herald *
I wish I could quote something from every page as that would convince you to read this book… This is a book to remind you that wonders lie scattered like jewels in the most ordinary places. – Rachel Campbell-Johnston * The Times *
It is hard to pin down what it is that makes Threads such a warmly attractive book… Julia Blackburn is an odd, sometimes even disconcerting writer, but she is an amazingly good one, too. The words she puts on paper do what written words should do: they make things real… She leaves her reader feeling grateful and happy. * Literary Review *
A cleverly crafted book that is far more than the obvious sum of its parts… [A] truly delightful book. – Honor Clerk * Spectator *
[An] extraordinary book. – Chloe Colchester * Oldie *
A beautifully illustrated, wry, emphatic and deeply moving triumph. – Dan Brotzel * Lady *
A poignant meditation on creativity and grief. – Dan Brotzel * Press *
Subtle and absorbing book. – 4 stars * UK Press Syndication *

Julia Blackburn has written ten books of non-fiction, the most recent of which, Time Song, was shortlisted for the 2019 Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize. Her family memoir The Three of Us won the 2009 J.R. Ackerley Award, and her two novels, The Book of Colour and The Leper’s Companions, were both shortlisted for the Orange Prize. She lives in Suffolk and Italy.

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