At fifteen, Sally Tuttle and Rowena Cresswell were firm friends, until a shocking event changed their lives. Now in their late thirties, they are estranged, both single mothers, both haunted with memories of their intense friendship. Sally is an embroiderer, a needlewoman ("the homelier sister of Wonderwoman"), who works at
In Stitches, a repairs shop in East Grinstead. When she wins an embroidery prize and is invited to a conference in Edinburgh to deliver an embroidery lecture, she has to leave her teenage daughter Pearl alone and step into a new role - lecturer, prize-winner. Rowena Cresswell is in Edinburgh too, helping her son move out of his student accommodation. This beautifully woven, perfectly pitched story of two women caught in the shadow of their teenage years will stay in the hearts of readers long after they put it down.
Things to Make and Mend by Ruth Thomas is the long-awaited first novel from one of Scotland's most admired short story writers.
About the AuthorRuth Thomas is an acclaimed Scottish short story writer. Her first collection
Sea Monster Tattoo was shortlisted for the John Llewelyn Rhys Award and the Saltire First Book Award in 1998.
The Dance Settee won a Scottish Arts Council Book Award in 2000. Her stories have been read on Radio 3 and 4 and she is a regular guest at the Edinburgh Book Festival. Her first novel,
Things to Make and Mend, will be published by Faber in 2007.
Book InformationISBN 9780571230600
Author Ruth ThomasFormat Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint Faber & FaberPublisher Faber & Faber
Weight(grams) 210g
Dimensions(mm) 195mm * 125mm * 15mm