I talk about this book in my September reading wrap-up video.

I went into this book hesitantly and spent the first 50% of the story really enjoying the beautiful writing, but not attached to any of the characters. In fact, I was buddy reading it and it was about the 45% mark that all I could tell my buddy was that I didn't know how I felt about the A Spool of Blue Thread.

On this side of the reading experience, I can definitely see how layered this story is. It deals in history in a quiet and moving way. It tells you things that happened matter-of-factly and never feels like it's building to a specific end. That's both the strength of the novel, but what left me feeling a little distant from it as the story because to weave its tale.

It built nicely, however, and in the end beautifully captures so many aspects of "everyday" life. There were so many things discussed here that I felt so deeply: the passage of time, sibling relationships and how one "problem child" effects the family; the way we fight and forgive and so much more.

It really is a portrait and one I fell in love with. While the title of this book has a different meaning, I feel like it accurately represents the tone, style and pace of the story. It unwinds, it wraps you, and it seems effortless.

Looking back a couple of months after reading, the thing that has stayed with me the most is the feel of the book (that steady unwinding) and the feel of the house where the Whitshanks settled.