Synopses & Reviews
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • USA TODAY BESTSELLER“Reader to reader, knitter to knitter: You’re going to love this book.”—Debbie Macomber
For fans of Jennifer Chiaverini and Sarah Addison Allen, The Wishing Thread is an enchanting novel about the bonds between sisters, the indelible pull of the past, and the transformational power of love.
The Van Ripper women have been the talk of Tarrytown, New York, for centuries. Some say they’re angels; some say they’re crooks. In their tumbledown “Stitchery,” not far from the stomping grounds of the legendary Headless Horseman, the Van Ripper sisters—Aubrey, Bitty, and Meggie—are said to knit people’s most ardent wishes into beautiful scarves and mittens, granting them health, success, or even a blossoming romance. But for the magic to work, sacrifices must be made—and no one knows that better than the Van Rippers.
When the Stitchery matriarch, Mariah, dies, she leaves the yarn shop to her three nieces. Aubrey, shy and reliable, has dedicated her life to weaving spells for the community, though her sisters have long stayed away. Bitty, pragmatic and persistent, has always been skeptical of magic and wants her children to have a normal, nonmagical life. Meggie, restless and free-spirited, follows her own set of rules. Now, after Mariah’s death forces a reunion, the sisters must reassess the state of their lives even as they decide the fate of the Stitchery. But their relationships with one another—and their beliefs in magic—are put to the test. Will the threads hold?
Praise for The Wishing Thread
“With deft needlework, a dash of folklore, and some good old-fashioned family angst, Lisa Van Allen knits together the threads of second chances, the pleasure of giving, the complications of sisterhood, and love. There’s a bit of magic in The Wishing Thread, in the words and the story as well as in the yarn.”—Meg Waite Clayton, author of The Wednesday Sisters
“Rich in myth and mystery, The Wishing Thread explores the tangle that is being a woman—from family and friendship to romance and community. Prepare to be ensnared, enthralled, enchanted!”—USA Today bestselling author Christie Ridgway
“The Wishing Thread is a lyrical, emotional, finely knit portrayal of three sisters struggling with love, magic and sacrifice. This is the best book I’ve read all year.”—Lisa Verge Higgins, author of The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendship
“An intriguing story of three sisters tied by blood and a strange inheritance, each searching for a way to belong in that place where magic and life intersect. Wonderful!”—Shelley Noble, author of Beach Colors
“Van Allen knits together this pleasantly entertaining tale as easily as the Van Ripper women knit together the often unraveling threads of people’s lives. . . . Chick-lit cozy meets magical realism with inevitably warm and fuzzy results.”—Booklist
“Fans of magical realism will want to pick up this enjoyable novel, which not only weaves magic through stitchery, but also weaves a realistic story about family and sisterhood and the threads that pull us back home.”—RT Book Reviews
Includes an exclusive conversation between Sarah Addison Allen and Lisa Van Allen. Join the Random House Reader’s Circle for author chats and more.
About the Author
Lisa Van Allen’s writing has been published in many literary journals and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She currently lives in northern New Jersey with her husband and their pet hedgehog.
Reading Group Guide
1. The three sisters, Bitty, Aubrey, and Meggie, are each very different and have spent a lot of time apart, but despite everything they all find their way back home upon the death of the aunt who raised them. What does the novel have to say about the bonds of sisterhood?
2. Each sister rejects, deals with, or embraces the idea of magic in her own way. Which sister do you relate to most? Are there themes in this book that run parallel with (or contrary to) the tenets of your faith community or your own personal ideas and beliefs?
3. At one point, Aubrey thinks “if the Madness was real, then the sacrifice of being a guardian of the Stitchery was a bigger, scarier thing than any single sacrifice made in the name of a single spell.” What is the connection between the Madness and magic? Do you think the Madness will continue to follow the family after the Stitchery is gone?
4. Why do you think Bitty started out so rebellious, but was so quick to embrace a socially acceptable lifestyle in adulthood and to distance herself from her sisters and the Stitchery?
5. Aubrey struggles with confidence throughout the book. What do you think was the main turning point for her? What made her believe in herself?
6. Meggie drops everything to go looking for the truth about her mother. Is there anything from your past you’d like to get to the bottom of?
7. Why do you think Aubrey feels that she can’t give in to her attraction to Vic?
8. The women of Tappan Square band together on Halloween Night to produce a feat of, if not magic, at the very least of remarkable artistry. What were the true effects of the yarn bombing? Do you feel the conclusion of the book indicates that magic is literally at work, that magic is something people choose to see, or that magic is what we make of it?
9. Were you upset by the fate of Tappan Square? What does this novel have to say about gentrification?
10. After Aubrey sacrifices Vic to save Tarrytown, she takes him back even though the Great Book in the Hall says she shouldn’t. How does she justify her actions? Was she right to take him back or should she have stayed true to her legacy?
11. The old Stitchery is no more but something remarkable happens instead. What do you think is the legacy of the Stitchery and how does it live on?
12. In the end, Aubrey comes to accept uncertainty. She thinks “The Stitchery had made a thing very clear to her—-a thing she did not see until now: Whatever the Van Ripper guardians had said magic was, was only a very small part of it, if it was part at all.” Do you feel this is a step forward in her understanding? Or is it an excuse that allows Aubrey to reshape tradition according to her own ideas? What are your feelings about embracing irresolution and uncertainty?