The Fabric of Wishful Thinking

by Kathleen Curtis Wilson

214 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication June 9, 2026

Reviews

[Kris]

I'm not going to give this star ratings, because I did not finish it. I like the premise and some of the plot set up, but I really wish this was done as a non fiction book. I thought the male main character was super cringy and there were plot holes I couldn't get past.

[Michaela Lernestam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in rural Virginia in 1910, the novel follows Ella, a young woman trapped in an unhappy, controlling marriage. When Sommers McCloud and his brothers take over the local weaving mill, Ella and Sommers form a friendship that turns quickly into something deeper—and riskier than either of them can afford

I don’t usually pick up romance, mostly because the characters often feel too unrealistik or to o polished to be real. The Fabric of Wishful Thinking surprised me in the opposite way: I genuinely didn’t like most of the characters—and that’s exactly why they worked. They felt like believable people shaped by their time, carrying values and blind spots that made the story uncomfortable in a realistic way.

I thought I knew where the plot was heading, but the ending threw me for a loop.

[Ridzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up the book because I thought the title was so beautiful and truthfully it didn't disappoint. This is a love story and it is also a story about love. The love of a mother and that of a woman. A man's first love.

Heartbreaking, real and so vivid in some scenes that you find yourself there, as a leaf falls down on a river, as you taste blackberries during the summer in the mountains. The details and moments of joy even in the hardest of times make this story bigger than itself.

This is the author's first work of fiction but I suspect and ardently hope it isn't the last.

If you're looking for a romance, a real one, not a fairy tale. Read this, you won't regret it.

Reviewed an advance copy from Netgally.