Three Skeins of Caledonia Blue

by Elizabeth Duvivier

After the unexpected death of her husband, Mathilde’s life is unraveling. Depressed and unable to process the terrible confusion she is feeling, adventure is the last thing Mathilde expects. But everything begins to change when Anjanette, her childhood friend—a woman who lives by nobody’s rules but her own—installs Mathilde on the third floor of the house that Anjanette shares with her mother, Lonny.

A trip to Rhinebeck, NY for a weekend yarn fair launches Mathilde on a mythic quest as she tries to get her hands on some rather enchanting yarn.

Three Skeins of Caledonia Blue explores the paradox between taking control of your life and releasing the illusion of control, the layered conflicts between selfhood and motherhood—and, the power of true friendship to bring you home to yourself.

Genres: Fiction

360 pages, Paperback

Published May 2, 2024

About the author

In the world according to Elizabeth Duvivier, life is a mythic quest filled with animal helpers, fire-breathing dragons, treacherous cliffs, woodland sanctuaries and a startling, out-of-the ordinary occurrence always popping up when you least expect it.

On her journey, she has been a teacher of English and French literature, as well as creative and expository writing. She has been a bartender; the commercialization manager of an engineering/manufacturing company; contributing editor for an IT magazine; the head coach for an elite boarding school’s Varsity Girls’ lacrosse team, the program director for a university arts outreach program and a doting aunt—among other sundry experiences that provide fabulous lived experiences for a writer.

In 2008, Elizabeth founded Squam Art Workshops, a creative community that has hosted people from over 47 states and 22 countries and where she offers classes in writing and living your myth.

Though she studied at Swarthmore College, Lawrence University, La Sorbonne (Universite de Paris), Bread Loaf and The French School (Middlebury College), Elizabeth has found the best teacher, ever and always, to be friendship.

She makes her home in Providence, Rhode Island with her dog, Remy.

Reviews

[Whitney Dahlberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book with it's richly described characters, bonds of friendships across generations of women, and of course...yarn!

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

She’s done it again. Somehow. Elizabeth wrote a book that I simultaneously couldn’t put down and wanted to last forever. Like a skein of perfect yarn, I find myself just wanting to hold onto this book and the feeling I had while reading it. And I can’t help but to wish I had a skein or two of Caledonia Blue.

I don’t often write reviews but this is just perfect.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read!

[carolyn graff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I could have read it in one sitting if time allowed. The characters were interesting and I hated the story to end.

[Jennifer Mcgown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I loved that the characters are three dimensional and are relatable. Mathilda is a woman who is finding her purpose after the loss of her husband. Her best friend Anjanette brings her back to her home to recover from a breakdown after her husband’s death. Anjanette and her mother Lonny give her space and time and support her while she comes becomes more interested in life around her. A chance encounter in Rhinebeck at the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival starts her on an adventure.
Mathilda like real people is a bit complicated and finds many things in the world confusing and tries to make sense of it. She finds it hard to let the past go. Anjanette is an artist who is self taught and is growing a following after many years of work. Lonny, Anjanette’s mother is also a widow and she has brought up her 4 children and has a knitting group and is volunteers at her church. These are vibrant involved women. I liked that they are 3 dimensional. Each have problems and are not perfect.
I loved following Mathilda’s adventures in world traveling, learning more about her life and her family’s as well as about Anjanette’s family. This book shows how loss affects everyone differently. It also shows the importance of connecting to other people helps in living.

[Jennifer Beck · Rating 3 out of 5]

I REALLY want to like this book, and it IS is a great book, if you can get past the feminism, political handwringing, left leaning church bashing diatribes the author goes on throughout the book, it becomes so redundant and pedestrian and ANNOYING. Other than that, I REALLY WANTED to love it.

It's about a quest and rediscovering a part of you that's lost because it's been buried in the things you expect from yourself and the things other people expect from you. Priorities and disappointments have a way of wearing us down to the point that we've been ground into fine dust, and there's nothing of our substance left. When a time comes that we can finally lift our head and let a little of our light shine out, we can't find it. This is about finding the light again and shining a little brighter as we find our strength and courage to let it shine.

[Sue Willey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a delight for knitters to read! - that feeling of being utterly captivated and in love with a particular skein of yarn! It follows Mathilde after the death of her husband (no spoiler) with flashbacks to her childhood and early marriage...the journey she goes on to arrive in a new place in her life. I seem to have trouble with some books that go back and forth in time, especially when there are several timelines! But other than that I really enjoyed the characters, Mathilde's self reflection, and quirky humor.

[Jayne Evangelista · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️ You don't have to be a knitter (which I'm not) to thoroughly enjoy this book. The story, which explores the depth and beauty of friendship, brought me right back to my own childhood friendships. It's a heartfelt and relatable read that will resonate with anyone who values the bonds we create over a lifetime.

[Carol Cross · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book would be more about knitting then relationships. I was disappointed. The story humped from time period to time period and place too often. Continuity was lacking.

[Rachele Alpine]

I was lucky enough to read an early draft and now it's here in the world and finished and just so gorgeous. Elizbabeth has written the best kind of book. The type of book that brings you back to your own childhood friends. It’s a celebration of those who knew you when you didn’t yet know yourself. The relationship between Mathilde and Anajanette is one filled with the familiar ease between two people who have grown up alongside each other and because of that, you feel as if you know them too. Three Skeins of Caledonia Blue explores the triumph in breaking free and embracing uncertainty to discover who you truly are and if full of a type of love that reminds you that no matter how far you go, you can always come back.