Novels with
chapters alternately featuring members of a group are not uncommon
— think of The
Joy Luck Club and The
Jane Austen Book Club. How to Make an American Quilt
has that structure plus an extra twist: Quilting is used as a metaphor
for life. The seven main characters are members of a quilting circle in
Grasse, California. Before each quilter's chapter are instructions in
quilt making that are meant to relate to the life of the woman. The
quilt metaphor extends to the whole group as well, with a quilt of
motley patches reflecting the connectedness of individual lives that
appear to have little in common.
It is a clever device that, unfortunately, only partly succeeds. The
chapters about the individual women, mostly offering a look inside
their marriages, are often interesting. But the digressive quilting
instructions read too much like a how-to guide, their meaning to the
related chapter not always apparent. Moreover, unlike the pieces of a
quilt, the lives of the women aren't connected with a strong thread.
Many people who have seen the film based on the book believe it was a
greater success, partly because the narrator Finn, the granddaughter of
one of the quilters, is more of a presence. Finn has so small a role in
the book, appearing only at the start and the end, that she is nearly
forgotten.
Still, Otto's first novel was a success with the readers, spending
seven weeks on Publishers
Weekly's hardcover bestseller list.
.
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