A Hundred Tiny Threads
A Hundred Tiny Threads is an engaging saga set between 1910 and 1924. The novel is recounted from two viewpoints, those of Winifred Duffy and Bill Howarth. Winifred is from trade. Bill is a coal miner’s son. From the opening pages, there is tension between Winifred and her difficult mother. Her father is easy-going and her grandmother is an endearing characterisation. Winifred meets a passionate suffragette and her brother. They disappear after a rally early in the novel.
Wanting to know what happened to them keeps one reading. From thence forward, Winifred’s future is influenced by this incident. The novel’s narrative is intricately plotted as her personal life is pursued by dramatic events. We also follow Bill Howarth, a disturbed and dark personality, through the trenches of WW1, and the Black and Tans in Ireland, towards a possible state of repose though one does wonder if his conscience can ever rest easy. Winifred is a rounded, splendid heroine whose journey a reader will enjoy. Bill is the product of a cruel background, a damaged man who suffers from obsession and who makes poor choices.
This gritty story illustrates how people can live with secrets. It is a well-written saga filled with human drama. The characters are convincing because they are true to life. Whilst Winifred suffers, she comes to terms with life as she leads it and with the choices she makes; the biggest choice presents itself as the novel draws to an unpredictable closure. I recommend this book for those who enjoy sagas set against the background of WW1 and the suffrage movement.
