Rating: 
Summary: This series gets better and better...
Review: ...and it was great to begin with! Jennifer Chiaverini has created a sequence of titles that do indeed share the same setting and some of the same individuals, but in a multidimensional way. The characters take on different roles in each book -- some move into the foreground, and others move back. The resulting stand-alone novels are not cookie-cutter episodes by any means. _The Quilter's Apprentice_ provided the framework and introduced us to Sylvia and Sarah. _Round Robin_ focused on the other members of the Elm Creek Quilters group, whom we had previously met only superficially. _The Cross-Country Quilters_ followed some of the quilt campers to their distant homes and lives and then traced them back to Elm Creek. Now _The Runaway Quilt_ returns the plot to Sylvia, but in a unique historical way. As she reads an old family memoir and looks at the old quilts found with it, she and the readers are left to wonder if we can really ever know who our ancestors were and how they lived. The information unveiled will probably surprise you as much as it does Sylvia. Who would have thought that 21st-century folk could still be affected by the Civil War? Maybe we all ought to go back and read _Uncle Tom's Cabin_ again.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting tale
Review: Elm Creek Manor, the estate owned by Sylvia Bergstrom Compson, is doing quite well as a quilter's camp and resort. The founding members of the business now see fifty campers per week coming to learn and exchange interests. The business is a success beyond their wildest dreams and Sylvia now has a new lease on life. She makes peace with her remaining in-laws, has more friends than she can count, and even has a guy that wants to marry her.
She's very proud of her family heritage and when she discovers the diary of Gerda Bergstrom, she can't wait to read it. Once she begins, she realizes that Annekee and Hans, Sylvia's ancestors and Gerda's brother and sister in law, are not the paragons of virtue she was led to believe. In fact, one of Annette's actions is so horrible that it affects Sylvia in the present, making her doubt who she is and from whom she came.
If the audience is not interested in genealogy before reading THE RUNAWAY QUILT, they will be after finishing it. The author shows how using primary and secondary resources, a person can learn about their family over five generations ago. Jennifer Chiaverini is a brilliant storyteller who creates characters we've grow to care about especially when they're in the middle of a quandary. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: RunAway Quilt
Review: Have enjoyed this book, but found the story line harder to follow than the other books of Jennifer's
Rating:
Summary: My favorite in the series
Review: I am not a quilter, but I am a history buff. I picked this book up because it sounded really interesting. I was not disappointed. There is lots to this story that I probably could understand better if I would read the other books in the series, which I probably will. Sylvia finds some old quilts in an ancestor's hope chest, along with a journal. The journal displays her ancestor's in a different light than what Sylvia was brought up to believe. This makes it very interesting. There is even a mystery that isn't solved at the end of the book--which leads to the question everyone asks at one point in their life--who am I? Sylvia learns to trust her instincts and understand that it's not what you are percieved, but how you percieve yourself. An interesting, enjoyable book that I would recommend.
Rating:
Summary: A good book--very interesting
Review: I am not a quilter, but I am a history buff. I picked this book up because it sounded really interesting. I was not disappointed. There is lots to this story that I probably could understand better if I would read the other books in the series, which I probably will. Sylvia finds some old quilts in an ancestor's hope chest, along with a journal. The journal displays her ancestor's in a different light than what Sylvia was brought up to believe. This makes it very interesting. There is even a mystery that isn't solved at the end of the book--which leads to the question everyone asks at one point in their life--who am I? Sylvia learns to trust her instincts and understand that it's not what you are percieved, but how you percieve yourself. An interesting, enjoyable book that I would recommend.
Rating:
Summary: A Simply Wondrful Story!!
Review: I began reading Jennifer Chiaverini's series of novels at the last book of the series whick is "The Quilters Legacy". I had to read the series out of sequence due to unavailabilty in our local library. There are apparently many people in our town who are also enjoying this wonderful series. I thought "The Quilters Legacy" was Chiaverini's greatest work until I read The Runaway Quilt! But of course I have not read the other three books in the series yet either. Once I started reading this book it was nearly impossible to put it down. She does a beautiful job of bringing the past family history into the future of Sylvia Compson's life using family quilts & Gerda's memoir. The story was very encaptivating even though I know absolutly nothing about quilting. It revolves around the Underground Railroad near the Civil War error which was extremely interesting. It is an amazing story whether you are interested history and quilting or not. Take the time to read it. I guarantee you won't be disappointed!
Rating:
Summary: A Simply Wondrful Story!!
Review: I began reading Jennifer Chiaverini's series of novels at the last book of the series whick is "The Quilters Legacy". I had to read the series out of sequence due to unavailabilty in our local library. There are apparently many people in our town who are also enjoying this wonderful series. I thought "The Quilters Legacy" was Chiaverini's greatest work until I read The Runaway Quilt! But of course I have not read the other three books in the series yet either. Once I started reading this book it was nearly impossible to put it down. She does a beautiful job of bringing the past family history into the future of Sylvia Compson's life using family quilts & Gerda's memoir. The story was very encaptivating even though I know absolutly nothing about quilting. It revolves around the Underground Railroad near the Civil War error which was extremely interesting. It is an amazing story whether you are interested history and quilting or not. Take the time to read it. I guarantee you won't be disappointed!
Rating:
Summary: A Simply Wondrful Story!!
Review: I began reading Jennifer Chiaverini's series of novels at the last book of the series whick is "The Quilters Legacy". I had to read the series out of sequence due to unavailabilty in our local library. There are apparently many people in our town who are also enjoying this wonderful series. I thought "The Quilters Legacy" was Chiaverini's greatest work until I read The Runaway Quilt! But of course I have not read the other three books in the series yet either. Once I started reading this book it was nearly impossible to put it down. She does a beautiful job of bringing the past family history into the future of Sylvia Compson's life using family quilts & Gerda's memoir. The story was very encaptivating even though I know absolutly nothing about quilting. It revolves around the Underground Railroad near the Civil War error which was extremely interesting. It is an amazing story whether you are interested history and quilting or not. Take the time to read it. I guarantee you won't be disappointed!
Rating:
Summary: The Best Yet!
Review: I have enjoyed all of Chiaverini's Elm Creek series (and have read all that have been published to date), but this is the best. Chiaverini does a remarkable job of piecing a current and very historical story together and ending up with a wonderful patchwork of a book.
Not only do you get a look at the ancestors that Sylvia so relies upon in defining who she is, but at a time in history when much change was afoot. Also, the idea of defining oneself by one's ancestry is introduced. Ancestors are people too, and that is what Sylvia finds out ... for good and ill.
I would also recommend : "Hidden in Plain Sight ..." if you are interested in more about the underground railroad and how slaves may have used quilts as signals.
Rating:
Summary: Her best effort yet!
Review: I have loved all of her books but this is definitely her best effort yet. The depth and breadth of her research and the characters she developed through the journal were absolutely mesmerizing. Thank you for a great read.
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