Rating: 
Summary: An entertaining book that is sometimes implausible
Review: The mystery in this novel centers around antique quilts and a 100+ year old journal that may hold the key to these quilts. A stranger (Margaret) brings Sylvia (a quilter who lives at Elm Creek Manor in Pennsylvania) an antique quilt that has been in Margaret's Southern family for a long time -- as far back as the Civil War. What is odd is that the quilting pattern for the quilt is Elm Creek Manor, and Sylvia can't understand why someone in the South before the Civil War would depict her home. She fears that her ancestry may include some slaveowners, although she had always been told that her family were abolitionists who ran an underground railway station. Implausibly, Sylvia decides for the first time to go looking for a hope chest that her great aunt gave her the key for many decades ago, and in that chest she finds three quilts and a journal. The mystery thickens as she studies these quilts and reads the journal, but I won't spoil the story by saying any more. This author is a good story teller, although I enjoyed the "journal" part of the book more than the present day part (the book goes back and forth between the two time periods, although the action takes place at the same place, Elm Creek Manor). I found quite a bit of the story improbable, but if you can get around that, this is a good read. I couldn't quite get on board with Sylvia's concerns that some of her ancestors may have been slaveholders, since in my opinion no-one is responsible for what their ancestors did, nor can anyone claim credit for an ancestor's good deeds. Quilters will find it particularly interesting, but you don't have to be a quilter to follow the story.
Rating:
Summary: An entertaining book that is sometimes implausible
Review: The mystery in this novel centers around antique quilts and a 100+ year old journal that may hold the key to these quilts. A stranger (Margaret) brings Sylvia (a quilter who lives at Elm Creek Manor in Pennsylvania) an antique quilt that has been in Margaret's Southern family for a long time -- as far back as the Civil War. What is odd is that the quilting pattern for the quilt is Elm Creek Manor, and Sylvia can't understand why someone in the South before the Civil War would depict her home. She fears that her ancestry may include some slaveowners, although she had always been told that her family were abolitionists who ran an underground railway station. Implausibly, Sylvia decides for the first time to go looking for a hope chest that her great aunt gave her the key for many decades ago, and in that chest she finds three quilts and a journal. The mystery thickens as she studies these quilts and reads the journal, but I won't spoil the story by saying any more. This author is a good story teller, although I enjoyed the "journal" part of the book more than the present day part (the book goes back and forth between the two time periods, although the action takes place at the same place, Elm Creek Manor). I found quite a bit of the story improbable, but if you can get around that, this is a good read. I couldn't quite get on board with Sylvia's concerns that some of her ancestors may have been slaveholders, since in my opinion no-one is responsible for what their ancestors did, nor can anyone claim credit for an ancestor's good deeds. Quilters will find it particularly interesting, but you don't have to be a quilter to follow the story.
Rating: 
Summary: It was hard to put this book down - such a pageturner!!!
Review: The story weaves pre-Civil War and present. The Underground Railroad gets a connection with Elm Creek and the journal entries from Gerda tell a beautiful story. Sylvia Compton learns heaps about her family's legacy in this book. This book will move you beyond emotions and stay with you long after you close the book.
Rating:
Summary: very interesting
Review: The title says it all... excellent story within a story as Gerta's journal unfolds. I was amazed at the ability of the author to change styles so well as the time frame of the story varied by 150 years! Excellent book.. now I want to see those old quilts!!!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent writing and character development AND story!
Review: The title says it all... excellent story within a story as Gerta's journal unfolds. I was amazed at the ability of the author to change styles so well as the time frame of the story varied by 150 years! Excellent book.. now I want to see those old quilts!!!
Rating:
Summary: The Best Yet of the Series!
Review: This is by far the best of the series! Each story in the Quilt series is better than the one before. This is a completely satisfying story: part mystery, part history lesson, and part geneology study.
After a speaking engagement, Sylvia is approached by one of the attendees. Margaret Alden has an old family quilt that has always been called The Elm Creek quilt, and she wants to share her information with Sylvia. This sparks Sylvia's curiosity, and she sets out to find the old quilts her Aunt Lucinda used to tell her about, quilts that were used as signals on the Underground Railroad.
What Sylvia finds is so much more. She finds a journal written by Gerda, Hans' sister, the founders of the Bergstrom legacy. In the memoir, Sylvia finds more questions than answers. In the journal, Gerda reveals family secrets, and she introduces Sylvia to someone she never knew existed: a pregnant runaway named Joanna, who the Bergstroms hide from slave catchers and who is almost their undoing.
Sylvia is confronted with the uncertainty of her own family history, and is left with a question that is never answered by Gerda's journal. With the help of her fellow Elm Creek Quilters, as well as descendants of Gerda's closest friends, Sylvia is able to face these uncertainties and reaffirm her moral center.
Rating: 
Summary: Unanswered questions
Review: This is the only Elm Creek Quilt book I have read. I have since read the synopsis' of the first three books to get an idea of how the series started. The Runaway Quilt has a lot going for it, as a lesson in history, genealogy, and quilt making. Moral issues pre-dating the Civil War are highlighted. However, I found the story fairly contrived, and found it difficult to sympathize with Sylvia, who spent an entire summer reading Gerda's jounal? I would have read it in one sitting! Okay, I have done some extensive genealogy and it is pretty addicting, so to have such a wonderful primary record in my hands would have put me in isolation for days. I appreciated the side story of Summer's research in historical archives, but any genealogist knows that there are many other research avenues available, and there should be no reason why Hans and Annekee's baby could not be named (unless no birth or christening record was ever recorded, which could be the case, but a death certificate should record the birth date). I also questioned whether the Runaway Slave Act allowed a breach of the 4th amendment rights to unlawful search and seizure, especially by anyone other than law enforcement. Don't know, but I don't believe even then trespass by slave catchers was legal. Another thing, let me in that attic! How could anyone not want to explore a treasure trove like that in this day? Okay, I really enjoyed reading the book even if it was fabricated from an old quilt. I believe 5 stars should be reserved for the very best of books. For simple, enjoyable stories, 3 stars is a very good score.
Rating:
Summary: didn't wanna put it down!!
Review: this was definitely ms. chiaverini's best effort so far! i was really interested to find out what sylvia found out about her ancestor's and their past. i have to agree with another reviewer that it seemed unlikely anyone with such a journal would spend all summer reading it. i would have done nothing else until that journal was read! but, hey, this is fiction, so i'll allow it!i have enjoyed reading all jennifer chiaverini's books and am impatiently awaiting the next one/s!!!
Rating:
Summary: Ran away with my time
Review: This was truly a book that I could not put down. It is the first of the Elm Creek books that I read and now I have purchased the rest to enjoy. The flow of the story was wonderful. And I easily moved between the days of Gerda and the modern day Sylvia. It is at once a mystery and a tale of adventure and romance. Through Ms. Chiaverini's skillful writing, we feel equally at home in either the 19th or 21th centuries. So skillful and artistic are her desceiptions, that we, the readers are front and center with our two leading ladies at all times. The cast of extras, from Hans and Andrew to Dorothea and Grace, all add to the rich tapestry that makes up this story. Whether you are a quilter or not, this book puts us in touch with the past and reminds us to look back and see the fiber from which we are all made. If you are not a quilter, it certainly is an inspiration to try it out as a hobby We are never quite sure of the answer to the questions in Sylvia's mind, but that does not matter. What we do know however, is that in her past were brave and daring people who stood for what was right in a time when so much was wrong.
Rating:
Summary: Quilts and History Interwoven Beautifully
Review: What is the mystery of a quilt owned by one of the students at the quilt school? This quilt patterns that appear to have been used in the Underground Railroad as well as another pattern linked to Elm Creek Manor. Sylvia, a master quilter and descendant of the Bergstrom family in Elm Creek, Pennsylvania is determined to find out. In her search she encounters a diary of her great aunt Gerda. In that diary we are drawn into the world of the pre-civil war period and the climate of the country, the work of abolitionists, and the world of quilting. Time and time again, Sylvia returns to Gerda's story, which is full of the history of how the Bergstroms made their way from immigration from Germany and assimilating into American culture. Their strong faith is tested in many ways. Gerda faces isolation, heartbreak, and betrayal by both men and to her dismay, family. Family folklore has the Bergstroms as a part of the abolitionist movement but the diary yields more concrete details of just how much of a part they did contribute. One is drawn to the story of this family's role in slaves escaping to Canada as well as their bravery The story is deftly woven as the quilts in the story are throughout this story. Readers are treated to the joys and intricacies of the quilting world, this beautiful art that is esteemed in both the black and white world. This subject is of particular interest to this reviewer because of the legacy quilting holds in my family. Also, my mother and I just a few years ago, discovered the part quilting patterns and codes played in the great Underground Railroad and African American history. We did research and presented programs to church and organizations. I write of this in my upcoming story, Quilting a Legacy, which is being published in The Cup of Comfort for Women in fall 2002. I just happened upon this book in the library and shared it with my mother, who is also a master quilter. We are now eager to read the whole series. This story was poignant and rich with history, suspense and secrets as there are in most family histories. Anyone who is interested in quilting, the abolitionist movement, or American history will enjoy this story.
| 
