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Threadbare
Threadbare
recounts the story of an innocent but tenacious young girl who chooses marriage to Abe, a lonely widower, rather than follow her farming community north as urban development transforms rural Harlem. Convinced Abe will help her attend high school on the Lower East Side, she faces a rude awakening to the filth and disease of the tenements. Through the following decades, Tillie turns her energy and intelligence to partnering with Abe as he builds a thriving button business while she and her neighbor Sadie launch a unique garment company. Pushing back against anti-Semitic Victorian values dominating the time, she acquires wealth only to have her life upended by a devastating, unforeseen challenge.
360 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 21, 2024
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1924 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
May 27, 2024
Threadbare was such an enjoyable book that I loved escaping to. A story about family, community, love, and loss, I felt so connected to the characters and their lives.
The story is set in the Gilded Age (late 1800s New York) and follows Tillie, a chicken farmer’s daughter who gets married at 16 to escape farm life under her stepmother’s thumb.
From the tenements of New York, Tillie starts her new life and is horrified at the living conditions but slowly starts to build a life for herself, making friends and becoming a part of her new community.
The historical details were done very well. From tenement conditions, disease outbreaks & deaths of loved ones, the Comstock Act and how to deal with unwanted pregnancies, this was not an easy time for women. The garment industry details were so interesting and I loved hearing Tillie’s new business ideas and could not believe the disdain she received from the men she worked with.
I didn’t realize this was a prequel to an earlier written book and will definitely be tracking down book 1 in the series.
Thank you to Goodreads and the publisher for this ARC. I was a Goodreads giveaway winner.
The story is set in the Gilded Age (late 1800s New York) and follows Tillie, a chicken farmer’s daughter who gets married at 16 to escape farm life under her stepmother’s thumb.
From the tenements of New York, Tillie starts her new life and is horrified at the living conditions but slowly starts to build a life for herself, making friends and becoming a part of her new community.
The historical details were done very well. From tenement conditions, disease outbreaks & deaths of loved ones, the Comstock Act and how to deal with unwanted pregnancies, this was not an easy time for women. The garment industry details were so interesting and I loved hearing Tillie’s new business ideas and could not believe the disdain she received from the men she worked with.
I didn’t realize this was a prequel to an earlier written book and will definitely be tracking down book 1 in the series.
Thank you to Goodreads and the publisher for this ARC. I was a Goodreads giveaway winner.
June 17, 2024
An inspiring story of all that immigrants, especially women, had to contend with in their new lives in America. Jane Loeb Rubin gives us Tillie, her family, and partners’ story in beautiful detail while weaving in the toll of diseases like cancer and TB in the early years of modern medicine. An excellent prequel to Rubin’s earlier book, In the Hands of Women.
May 24, 2025
Rated 3.69
Early farming in Harlem, Jewish migration to Sullivan and Ulster Counties, the Lower East Side and the evolution of the garment industry. Epidemics were frequent throughout this period, with the highest incidence in lower Manhattan, where population density, poor housing and nutrition and overpopulation were rampant. All of this combines the life of Tillie and her family. I wish I would have read this book first before In the Hands of Women. Even though written in this order, the story of Hannah better suites following her sister Tillie and her trials. Interesting but the writing drags some.
Threadbare recounts the story of an innocent but tenacious young girl who chooses marriage to Abe, a lonely widower, rather than follow her farming community north as urban development transforms rural Harlem. Convinced Abe will help her attend high school on the Lower East Side, she faces a rude awakening to the filth and disease of the tenements. Through the following decades, Tillie turns her energy and intelligence to partnering with Abe as he builds a thriving button business while she and her neighbor Sadie launch a unique garment company. Pushing back against anti-Semitic Victorian values dominating the time, she acquires wealth only to have her life upended by a devastating, unforeseen challenge.
Early farming in Harlem, Jewish migration to Sullivan and Ulster Counties, the Lower East Side and the evolution of the garment industry. Epidemics were frequent throughout this period, with the highest incidence in lower Manhattan, where population density, poor housing and nutrition and overpopulation were rampant. All of this combines the life of Tillie and her family. I wish I would have read this book first before In the Hands of Women. Even though written in this order, the story of Hannah better suites following her sister Tillie and her trials. Interesting but the writing drags some.
Threadbare recounts the story of an innocent but tenacious young girl who chooses marriage to Abe, a lonely widower, rather than follow her farming community north as urban development transforms rural Harlem. Convinced Abe will help her attend high school on the Lower East Side, she faces a rude awakening to the filth and disease of the tenements. Through the following decades, Tillie turns her energy and intelligence to partnering with Abe as he builds a thriving button business while she and her neighbor Sadie launch a unique garment company. Pushing back against anti-Semitic Victorian values dominating the time, she acquires wealth only to have her life upended by a devastating, unforeseen challenge.
June 1, 2024
very nuanced, well-researched
Threadbare tells the story of a young Jewish from 14 to her late 20s as she navigates her mothers death, her own marriage, life in tenement housing, working with immigrants, and eventually starting her own business in the fabric district.
The time period is well-researched and the characters do come alive as they struggle through history. The look at the garment industry is fascinating as well as healthcare for women at the time.
**I won this in a Goodreads Giveaway. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”
Threadbare tells the story of a young Jewish from 14 to her late 20s as she navigates her mothers death, her own marriage, life in tenement housing, working with immigrants, and eventually starting her own business in the fabric district.
The time period is well-researched and the characters do come alive as they struggle through history. The look at the garment industry is fascinating as well as healthcare for women at the time.
**I won this in a Goodreads Giveaway. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”
May 11, 2025
I had won this book and was asked to give an honest review.
It’s not a terrible story, maybe it’s because this wasn’t a book for me.
It had a good story. Kind of slow that’s why it took a month to read.
I honestly couldn’t get myself to pick it up some days.
I didn’t care for the ending, it just up and ended and left you wondering about different things in the story.
It’s not a terrible story, maybe it’s because this wasn’t a book for me.
It had a good story. Kind of slow that’s why it took a month to read.
I honestly couldn’t get myself to pick it up some days.
I didn’t care for the ending, it just up and ended and left you wondering about different things in the story.
June 17, 2024
I enjoyed this book very much. Historical fiction from the late 1800s in N.Y. I just couldn't put it down. I learned a lot about the very difficult time in history. To my dismay, part of that history is repeating itself now. Well worth the read.
January 11, 2025
Very enjoyable look at the early growth of the dress pattern/ retail garment industry set in the late 1880s. Main characters are a Jewish husband and wife and her female business partner. Interesting to see these strong women fight for the recognition they deserved. Good story. Easy read.
September 25, 2025
4.5⭐️
I love New York immigration historical fiction from the early 1900s. This book takes us to a bit earlier time starting in 1879. It is a wonderful book highlighting strong women and their dreams in a male dominated world and the power of family.
I love New York immigration historical fiction from the early 1900s. This book takes us to a bit earlier time starting in 1879. It is a wonderful book highlighting strong women and their dreams in a male dominated world and the power of family.
October 7, 2025
I loved this book. I read it in 4 days. I was so interested in the characters. I felt like they were family. Easy read. Jane is a great story teller. I wish I would have read In the Hands of Woman after this book as this book is a prequal.
May 2, 2024
Loved Tillie and her family from the very first page! Jane creates a picture with her words of a life long gone. You root for Tillie and celebrate her accomplishments!
August 28, 2024
Jane Loeb Rubin, Threadbare, A Gilded City Series, Level Best Books Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) Members’ Titles, May 2024.
Thank you, Net Galley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.
Jane Loeb Rubin has taken the incomplete information she has about her great-grandmother and, together with meticulous and sensitive research, has written a captivating story with a heroine who earns affection and admiration. Tillie Isaacson’s story is told in four parts: October 1879 to August 1882; October 1882 to February 1883; January 1890 to August 1890; September 1890 to February 1892. Over this period she accompanies her mother to hospital, Bellevue, rather than Mount Sinai, the latter being for those who could afford it; grows to maturity and marries; accomplishes a creative and productive business; cares for a family while conducting her business; succeeds through the depression as well as thwarting unprincipled business associates; survives ill health; and sees her younger sister into the beginnings of a profession.
Tillie’s story is that of a woman dealing with sexism and racism, with these issues woven deftly into a history of the garment industry in New York; the development of the city, from the hardship suffered in tenements to city boundaries moving with farming communities making way for factories and business premises; the educational and cultural opportunities that were fostered or thwarted; and personal and public political attitudes. Tillie is a complex character, with her aspirations that conflict with the domestic role considered suitable for women at the time and her demands that she be seen and heard, together with a humility she sometimes fosters to achieve her aims. Beginning the story when she is young shows her having to combine ambition with a harsh reality and her often selfish responses make Tillie a girl and woman with whom it is easy to commiserate, and as she achieves her aims, to rejoice.
Many of the other characters are also complex. Tillie’s father and husband combine a desire to maintain traditional sex roles with an understanding that Tillie’s demand for an independent future which exceeds these has merit. Tillie’s associates demonstrate women’s ability to combine commitments to their families as well as business enterprises; women whose professions are outside the law but are sympathetic to women’s health needs; and women who are resentful of others’ success.
Events such as the tuberculosis epidemic highlights the role of poverty and inadequate housing and the medical treatments available at the time. When a young woman close to Tillie’s family dies from the disease, infected because of her hidden love affair, a public event and personal involvement is woven together. This is but one example of how characters other than Tillie are treated to move the historical events and their impact forward. When Tillie is ill she can attend Mount Sinai hospital, unlike her mother. Combining a familiar teenage theme with the epidemic and its impact, and the change in Tillie’s family’s economic circumstances in this way is typical of the way in which history becomes such successful storytelling. This is another of her books that I have enjoyed, and I look forward to more of Jane Loeb Rubin’s writing.
Thank you, Net Galley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.
Jane Loeb Rubin has taken the incomplete information she has about her great-grandmother and, together with meticulous and sensitive research, has written a captivating story with a heroine who earns affection and admiration. Tillie Isaacson’s story is told in four parts: October 1879 to August 1882; October 1882 to February 1883; January 1890 to August 1890; September 1890 to February 1892. Over this period she accompanies her mother to hospital, Bellevue, rather than Mount Sinai, the latter being for those who could afford it; grows to maturity and marries; accomplishes a creative and productive business; cares for a family while conducting her business; succeeds through the depression as well as thwarting unprincipled business associates; survives ill health; and sees her younger sister into the beginnings of a profession.
Tillie’s story is that of a woman dealing with sexism and racism, with these issues woven deftly into a history of the garment industry in New York; the development of the city, from the hardship suffered in tenements to city boundaries moving with farming communities making way for factories and business premises; the educational and cultural opportunities that were fostered or thwarted; and personal and public political attitudes. Tillie is a complex character, with her aspirations that conflict with the domestic role considered suitable for women at the time and her demands that she be seen and heard, together with a humility she sometimes fosters to achieve her aims. Beginning the story when she is young shows her having to combine ambition with a harsh reality and her often selfish responses make Tillie a girl and woman with whom it is easy to commiserate, and as she achieves her aims, to rejoice.
Many of the other characters are also complex. Tillie’s father and husband combine a desire to maintain traditional sex roles with an understanding that Tillie’s demand for an independent future which exceeds these has merit. Tillie’s associates demonstrate women’s ability to combine commitments to their families as well as business enterprises; women whose professions are outside the law but are sympathetic to women’s health needs; and women who are resentful of others’ success.
Events such as the tuberculosis epidemic highlights the role of poverty and inadequate housing and the medical treatments available at the time. When a young woman close to Tillie’s family dies from the disease, infected because of her hidden love affair, a public event and personal involvement is woven together. This is but one example of how characters other than Tillie are treated to move the historical events and their impact forward. When Tillie is ill she can attend Mount Sinai hospital, unlike her mother. Combining a familiar teenage theme with the epidemic and its impact, and the change in Tillie’s family’s economic circumstances in this way is typical of the way in which history becomes such successful storytelling. This is another of her books that I have enjoyed, and I look forward to more of Jane Loeb Rubin’s writing.
May 22, 2024
I read this book as an advance copy. Threadbare is the prequel to Jane Rubin’s first book, In The Hands of Women, an historical women’s fiction that follows the medical career of her character, Hannah. In Threadbare, we learn more about Hannah’s childhood, and her elder sister, Tillie, who is a substitute mother-figure to Hannah.
Threadbare begins in the late nineteenth century, when Tillie is just leaving eighth grade and Hannah is still a small child. We learn, in vivid prose, what life is like in the tenements o the Lower East Side at the turn of the century, and how Tillie, as an intelligent woman, driven to carve out an identity for herself, first helps her husband build his business and then starts her own with her best friend Sophie.
Of course, life in the tenements is not easy for her and her husband. She is a young bride with little life experience. But life is also a challenge for her little sister, Hannah. Eventually, Tillie and her father determine that despite the difficulties of life on the Lower East Side, it will be better for Hannah to live with her sister and brother-in-law, that to stay on the family farm with her stepmother.
Over the years, Tillie and Sophie’s business becomes wildly successful largely as a result of Tillie’s imagination and business savvy. Despite setbacks, Sophie and Tillie navigate the world of being a supplier to some of the biggest retailers of the time, Bloomingdale’s and a sewing pattern company, based loosely on the legendary Butterick’s patterns business.
We learn, too, how Hannah grows into the medical doctor we meet in In The Hands of Women, watching her first become fascinated with general women’s health and midwifery, and later with infectious disease and cancer.
Ms. Rubin deftly interweaves the risks of illness and surgery at that time with the difficulties that the rising middle class encounters, especially the difficulties of women in business. I especially related to that element of the book because my own grandmother was among the first female owners of a liquor business, and subjected to cancer treatment that we would think of as barbaric, not much later than the time frame of this novel.
Between the evocative prose and the insightful dialogue, I felt as though I had met these characters and lived in their world for a brief time. I am so looking forward to reading more of this writer's work.
Threadbare begins in the late nineteenth century, when Tillie is just leaving eighth grade and Hannah is still a small child. We learn, in vivid prose, what life is like in the tenements o the Lower East Side at the turn of the century, and how Tillie, as an intelligent woman, driven to carve out an identity for herself, first helps her husband build his business and then starts her own with her best friend Sophie.
Of course, life in the tenements is not easy for her and her husband. She is a young bride with little life experience. But life is also a challenge for her little sister, Hannah. Eventually, Tillie and her father determine that despite the difficulties of life on the Lower East Side, it will be better for Hannah to live with her sister and brother-in-law, that to stay on the family farm with her stepmother.
Over the years, Tillie and Sophie’s business becomes wildly successful largely as a result of Tillie’s imagination and business savvy. Despite setbacks, Sophie and Tillie navigate the world of being a supplier to some of the biggest retailers of the time, Bloomingdale’s and a sewing pattern company, based loosely on the legendary Butterick’s patterns business.
We learn, too, how Hannah grows into the medical doctor we meet in In The Hands of Women, watching her first become fascinated with general women’s health and midwifery, and later with infectious disease and cancer.
Ms. Rubin deftly interweaves the risks of illness and surgery at that time with the difficulties that the rising middle class encounters, especially the difficulties of women in business. I especially related to that element of the book because my own grandmother was among the first female owners of a liquor business, and subjected to cancer treatment that we would think of as barbaric, not much later than the time frame of this novel.
Between the evocative prose and the insightful dialogue, I felt as though I had met these characters and lived in their world for a brief time. I am so looking forward to reading more of this writer's work.
November 14, 2024
In this fascinating historical fiction novel, readers follow Tillie from her early teen years through her marriage and adult life in a rapidly transforming New York City. Unable to continue her education, she chooses marriage and a life in the city to life with her farming community in upstate New York. Faced with the dirt, disease, and squalor of tenement life, Tillie and her neighbor Sadie turn their intelligence to working with their husbands’ businesses and their own ready-to-make garment company against anti-Semitic and sexist Victorian values. However, her life is hard, and marriage and motherhood are challenging and bring new struggles and hardships into her life, but Tillie must persevere in the face of everything which tries to slow her down. With a long chronological reach, the novel follows Tillie over much of her life, and Rubin does a fantastic job bringing the personal and external changes of Tillie’s life in late nineteenth century New York City to life in incredible historical detail. The relationships in Tillie’s life are incredibly important and shape her character in many ways, and these other characters have fantastic personalities and complex development over the course of this exciting, complex, and brilliantly written novel.
Thanks to NetGalley, Level Best Books, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), and Members' Titles for the advance copy.
Thanks to NetGalley, Level Best Books, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), and Members' Titles for the advance copy.
March 21, 2024
Thank you NetGalley and author Jane Loeb Rubin For the copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.
"Threadbare recounts the story of an innocent but tenacious young girl who chooses marriage to Abe, a lonely widower, rather than follow her farming community north as urban development transforms rural Harlem. Convinced Abe will help her attend high school on the Lower East Side, she faces a rude awakening to the filth and disease of the tenements. Through the following decades, Tillie turns her energy and intelligence to partnering with Abe as he builds a thriving button business while she and her neighbor Sadie launch a unique garment company. Pushing back against anti-Semitic Victorian values dominating the time, she acquires wealth only to have her life upended by a devastating, unforeseen challenge."
It is a captivating and thought-provoking novel that seamlessly blends high-stakes drama with richly drawn characters and lush descriptions of New York City’s elite. It explores the complexities of human relationships, highlighting the sacrifices we make in pursuit of our dreams and the consequences of our choices.
"Threadbare recounts the story of an innocent but tenacious young girl who chooses marriage to Abe, a lonely widower, rather than follow her farming community north as urban development transforms rural Harlem. Convinced Abe will help her attend high school on the Lower East Side, she faces a rude awakening to the filth and disease of the tenements. Through the following decades, Tillie turns her energy and intelligence to partnering with Abe as he builds a thriving button business while she and her neighbor Sadie launch a unique garment company. Pushing back against anti-Semitic Victorian values dominating the time, she acquires wealth only to have her life upended by a devastating, unforeseen challenge."
It is a captivating and thought-provoking novel that seamlessly blends high-stakes drama with richly drawn characters and lush descriptions of New York City’s elite. It explores the complexities of human relationships, highlighting the sacrifices we make in pursuit of our dreams and the consequences of our choices.
May 20, 2024
Many thanks to NetGalley and Level Best Books for the free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.
This is a wonderful historical tale of NYC in the early 1800s that follows a jewish woman's life over many decades and the birth of the garment district. Tillie and her family immigrate to NYC from Germany before Hitler has a chance to exterminate them. The family begins as kosher chicken farmers until tragedy strikes with the mother dying of breast cancer. As the progress of immigration and development moves north, Tillie makes a courageous decision to marry a widower and move to the tenements instead of continuing farming. Despite poverty, death, and disease, Tillie begins building a button business with her husband and a garment business with her friend, Sadie.
This is such a well researched and written story of the history of the NYC garment district. The characters are very likable and believable. The plot works well. Also, it was nice to read a historic tale of a jewish family that did not focus on Hitler.
I have not read the other book in this series but I have just downloaded it and plan to do so.
HIghly recommend!!!
This is a wonderful historical tale of NYC in the early 1800s that follows a jewish woman's life over many decades and the birth of the garment district. Tillie and her family immigrate to NYC from Germany before Hitler has a chance to exterminate them. The family begins as kosher chicken farmers until tragedy strikes with the mother dying of breast cancer. As the progress of immigration and development moves north, Tillie makes a courageous decision to marry a widower and move to the tenements instead of continuing farming. Despite poverty, death, and disease, Tillie begins building a button business with her husband and a garment business with her friend, Sadie.
This is such a well researched and written story of the history of the NYC garment district. The characters are very likable and believable. The plot works well. Also, it was nice to read a historic tale of a jewish family that did not focus on Hitler.
I have not read the other book in this series but I have just downloaded it and plan to do so.
HIghly recommend!!!
April 8, 2024
I was pulled into this story from the first page. Ms. Rubin did an excellent job of bringing the reader right into life in NYC in the late 1800s—from the northern farms, to the tenements in lower Manhattan, to the middle-class apartments—with her attention to detail (sights, sounds, smells) which made it all real. This historical fiction novel is a prequel to her first novel (In the Hands of Women) and follows the protagonist, Tillie, as she struggles for equality as a business owner in a man’s world. Taking us into the factories as well as the executive offices of Bloomingdales and Butterfield, we are just as furious as Tillie when she has to keep quiet and let her husband do the talking in order to make a sale, despite being the entrepreneur with all the great ideas. You will smile, cry, and scream in frustration right along with Tillie and her best friend, Sadie as they navigate through life in this emotional story. I would highly recommend this book.
I was given an advance copy of this book by the author for an honest review. My opinions are my own.
I was given an advance copy of this book by the author for an honest review. My opinions are my own.
June 30, 2024
The prequel to 'In the Hands of Women', Jane Loeb Rubin pulls us into the life of a plucky protagonist-Tillie, a young Jewish girl who desires to attend high school in a time when girls married early, had babies, and became part of their husbands' lives. Tillie agrees to marry Abe, a widower who is several years her senior, with hopes of fulfilling her dream. Instead, she finds herself battling tenement life and scraping to get by. Still, she never gives up on making her own mark in a world filled with anti-Semitism and misogyny.
Jane Loeb Rubin has created a wonderful blend of history and story, a balance of emotion and information, and a heroine I truly rooted for. During a time when business was run by men, Tillie fights for equality in a way that is believable for 19th century NYC while still supporting her husband's button business. The second in a series, Threadbare can easily be read on its own. However, reading 'In the Hands of Women' will richly enhance the story.
Jane Loeb Rubin has created a wonderful blend of history and story, a balance of emotion and information, and a heroine I truly rooted for. During a time when business was run by men, Tillie fights for equality in a way that is believable for 19th century NYC while still supporting her husband's button business. The second in a series, Threadbare can easily be read on its own. However, reading 'In the Hands of Women' will richly enhance the story.
March 29, 2024
I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to provide an ARC review prior to its release date, in exchange for my honest review. It was a great depiction of the id to late 1800's, giving a glimpse into life for immigrants in NYC at this time. The author clearly did a thorough job researching this time period and what was life back then from a scenic viewpoint, poignantly describing the landscape beautifully -- or not so beautifully with all the stench of poverty. But what really struck me was how magnificently she captured the emotions of the protagonist Tillie. I was rooting for her. For a time when men/husbands/doctors ruled women (literally), Tillie had so much grit, yet navigated her cards with such deliberate finesse. I loved this book!
March 21, 2024
This is a prequel to In the Hands of Women, but could absolutely function as a stand alone novel. Rubin deftly paints a picture of NYC in the mid to late 1800s, following the beloved Levine/Isaacson family that we met in her first novel. This time she tackles the fashion industry, and it is striking that the familiar themes of familial/friend support and women's ambition/intellect with the balance of home life are still so relevant today. Rubin truly shines in part 3, when undertaking a TB outbreak which will surely speak to all of us, as we all just lived through Covid. I truly enjoyed this book and look forward to the next in the series!
August 15, 2024
Threadbare made me feel as if I were walking through the 19th century immigrant world that my own great-grandmother inhabited on the lower East Side of Manhattan ... Which is another way of saying that I loved this book. It tells the story of Tillie, who we meet as a young girl in 19th century New York City and follow through challenges and triumphs, from marriage, tenement living, and illness to success in growing her own business. Threadbare also touches on the often-devastating impact that government restrictions on birth control and abortion had on women’s lives, though author Jane Rubin never allows that issue to overwhelm the fine tale she's written.
February 11, 2025
I was surprised at the fact that I didn’t find this book completely boring. It’s not my typical genre but I did enjoy the twists and turns. That said, I still think it was an average book; not worthy of 4 or 5 stars just because it’s not something I would particularly say was exciting or a page turner. It was dragging a bit towards the middle and the ending was a bit abrupt. You do admire tillie and her determination but some of her decisions at the end (won’t give away it!) was not expected and not something that I agree with. But maybe this is just reflective of those times. Overall, good 1 time read.
May 6, 2024
I received an ARC on NetGalley.
I enjoyed this book. It was a breath of fresh air to read a historical fiction book about a Jewish family that did not take place during the Holocaust. It especially touched me because, besides being Jewish, I am also an avid sewer and for many years used Butterick patterns (somewhat hidden in the name of the company that was used in the story). The story covers many decades and follows the main character from her young years, through tragedy, marriage, children and success.
I enjoyed this book. It was a breath of fresh air to read a historical fiction book about a Jewish family that did not take place during the Holocaust. It especially touched me because, besides being Jewish, I am also an avid sewer and for many years used Butterick patterns (somewhat hidden in the name of the company that was used in the story). The story covers many decades and follows the main character from her young years, through tragedy, marriage, children and success.
May 8, 2024
Brava Jane Loeb Rubin and brava Tillie and Sadie, Ms. Rubin’s strong, feisty women in this engaging gem of historical fiction. This talented author sets the reader deep into the late 1800s in New York City, inhaling the stench of the tenements of the Lower East Side to the sweet apple orchards in Northern Manhattan. You’ll cheer. You’ll cry. You’ll meet characters that you’ll be glad to meet again in Ms. Rubin’s debut novel, In the Hands of Women. Read both, in any order. You’ll be glad you did.
May 21, 2024
Tillie is a young girl who is tragically forced to grow up fast. Threadbare follows her through the trials of a young marriage, motherhood, earning a living in 1800s NYC, and many more trials. Tillie navigates them all with her husband Abe, trusted friends and family with admirable grace. A book well worth finishing in one sitting, Tillie's story carries a breathtaking weight.
I received an advance copy of Threadbare through Goodreads as a giveaway and am thrilled to have the opportunity to experience Jane Rubin's work.
I received an advance copy of Threadbare through Goodreads as a giveaway and am thrilled to have the opportunity to experience Jane Rubin's work.
June 17, 2025
This book was definitely a 5 star book. It is different than what I usually read but it made me interested in reading more historic fiction books. This book was a short easy read but with a lot of information. It really shows the struggles women faced in the 1800s and also how far we have advanced in medicine. I definitely recommend you read this book if you would like a book that portrays women empowerment!
March 21, 2024
A nice easy novel ! It reflects what New York looked and felt like particularly for the immigrants living in poverty. The story also focuses on how women are considered when they try to get their own business whether by their husbands or society at large. Rather interesting.
I received a digital copy of this novel from NetGalley and I am leaving voluntarily an honest review.
I received a digital copy of this novel from NetGalley and I am leaving voluntarily an honest review.
February 4, 2025
Heartwarming story
This was the second book I read in the Gilded City Series and it did not disappoint! In this book you are introduced to Tillie’s story. The writing is so descriptive and makes you truly understand the hardships people went through when coming to NYC in the late 1800s. A great historical fiction.
This was the second book I read in the Gilded City Series and it did not disappoint! In this book you are introduced to Tillie’s story. The writing is so descriptive and makes you truly understand the hardships people went through when coming to NYC in the late 1800s. A great historical fiction.
May 26, 2024
Set in Victorian New York this novel is an absolute delight. Following the story of a young Jewish girls upbringing and marriage to a man 10 years senior, it is not what you expect. I was completely enthralled, a best seller in the making.
September 2, 2024
The characters become more captivating with every turn of the page. It's so interesting reading about Tillie and Sadie's business and you can't help but root for them through their challenges and failures. Looking forward to continuing the journey to see where Tillie's determination takes her.
June 30, 2025
I heard the author present. It took me a while to finish the book - although it was excellent. I just read many other books in between. Very well written - which clearly took a lot of research. Highly recommend.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews