The Threads of the Heart

A nineteenth century Spanish seamstress flees her village for Morocco in a novel with “a magical realist aspect . . . An epic sweep and a richness of characterization” (The Independent).   They say Frasquita is a healer with occult powers; that perhaps she is even a sorceress. Indeed, she has a remarkable gift, one that has been passed down to the women in her family for generations. From mere rags, she can create gowns and other garments so magnificent, so alive, that they mask any defect or deformity. They bestow a blinding beauty on whoever wears them.   But Frasquita’s gift makes others in her small Andalusian village jealous. And when her gambling husband brings misfortune on their family, Frasquita travels across southern Spain and into Africa with her five children in tow. Her exile becomes a quest for a better life, and a way to free her daughters from the fate of her family of sorcerers.  “Like the beautiful frescoes of García Márquez, this novel is a marvelous and lyrical fairytale bursting with colorful characters” —La Revue Littéraire Des Copines

From Booklist

Passed down from mother to daughter, a simple wooden box contains the unknown legacy of generations of women in Frasquita’s family. When it is her turn to unearth the chest from its hiding place beneath gnarled olive trees, Frasquita discovers mere needles and threads, but these will be enough to cast her spell and seal the fate of herself and her children. A saint’s heart, a feathered wedding dress, the coat of a local landowner: all will be enriched by Frasquita’s mythical talents as she weaves an otherworldly wisdom and protection into the meager bits of fabric before her. Though men and beasts will be healed by her prowess, her skills may not be enough to protect her son and daughters as they travel from the mountains of war-torn Spain to the deserts of North Africa. Rich in seductive energy and teeming with lush imagery, Martinez’s epic fable of misunderstood women struggling to survive in misguided societies is an evocative but cautionary tale of hubris and humility. --Carol Haggas

About the Author

Author Carole Martinez, a former actress and photographer, currently teaches French in a middle school in Issy-les-Moulineaux. She began writing during her maternity leave in 2005.

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