How to Make an American Quilt: A Novel

Good book that shipped quickly

How to Make An American Quilt by Whitney Otto HOW TO MAKE AN AMERICAN QUILT is a patchwork of lives that make up a quilting group. The ladies all live in Grasse, California, a small town outside of Bakersfield. Whitney Otto wrote this short novel by interspersing chapters dedicated to quilting, in-between chapters dedicated to each of the quilters in the group. What I didn't figure out right away was that each chapter that described the quilting related to the character description of the next quilter. Each person was different and therefore each quilt that could be created by each woman, had different aspects to it. I have to confess I found the chapters on quilting a bit dull, and it is probably because I am not a quilter. I love to look at quilts; I love to feel them. But reading these chapters on the process of quilting was trying my patience. However, I understood what the author was attempting to do, to compare a quilt to a group of women whose lives were patched together and somehow made them one. The chapters that talked about the history of each character were very interesting, and I saw how they all were somehow connected to the others. Reading the book was a walk through history, as the women were of varying ages and spanned generations. We got to see Hy and Glady Joe as they are now, in their old age, but also what they were like in their younger years. We saw Anna and her daughter Marianna grow and mature as black women living in a white society. And then there is Finn, who is the narrator of the book. She is the one that is building this patchwork of people, helping to tell the story of women whose lives are somehow intertwined. I found this book very easy to read, but I didn't find it as interesting as I think it could have been. I feel the author missed her mark, although I give her points for the idea.

Love the movie. Just now reading the book.

Their are really only a few characters in this story, however the number of relationships among them are surprising. I actually made a timeline chart of who is who, who loves who, who has slept with who, and who has died. This is an all consuming novel. I read it in two sittings. I recommend it to those who love psychological novels. Whitney Otto is a very talented researcher and author.

A reviewer asked, "Is this the great American novel?" Perhaps it is. I will read it again and again. A woman's book, one that men may not understand.

It was a wonderful book about a group of women and how their lives changed how they came together to quilt. The only thing missing was pictures or drawings of the quilts. Loved the book.

I was quite excited to read this book because I loved the movie so much. I know that novels should be evaluated as a work on their own instead of being compared to their film adaptation, because each one is a different medium with its own strengths. It's just that with all the books-turned-motion-pictures I've read, I've always found the book more enjoyable - except this time. For one thing, I didn't find any of the characters endearing. Finn was weak as a central character; she was kinda like vapor. The stories of the various women were all interesting, and I could sympathize with many of the details in their lives, but there just wasn't enough depth to create a "bond" with any of them. The storytelling was clever, though I can't really say it was good writing. The POV was confusing. Too many disjointed concepts. And mixed metaphors. What bothered me the most is that there were no resolutions to the stories - it kinda left the impression that they were all suspended in a state of brokenness and bitterness - not much redemption, no forgiveness, no lessons to glean (except the lesson that life is hard). It's as if the theme is, "We're women, we had painful lives, we don't complain, we just accept our fate, and that's that." When I realized I had read the last page, I went, "THAT'S IT?!!" Aside from not having a satisfying ending, I feel like there wasn't much cohesion between individual stories. To use the author's quilt-making allusion: the edges were left frayed, the individual patches were not well-sewn together, and the base has holes in it.

If you like those kinds of books that start at point A, proceed through B, C, and D, before ending at E, well, think again. Whitney Otto has designed a story as complex, as colorful, as historical as any quilt imaginable. I'm not a quilter; I'm a mystery writer and editor. I'd like to think, though, that I do with words what my sister, a quilter, does with fabric, blending the silks and satins and flour sacks of nouns with the velvets and corduroys and cotton of verbs. HOW TO MAKE AN AMERICAN QUILT does just that. This is the deeply moving story of a group of quilters, women of varied ages and backgrounds. Watching their lives unfold like the joining of fabric squares is a joy from start to finish. HOW TO MAKE AN AMERICAN QUILT? How to make an American life.