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A Hundred Tiny Threads
It's 1911 and Winifred Duffy is a determined young woman eager for new experiences, for a life beyond the grocer's shop counter ruled over by her domineering mother.The scars of Bill Howarth's troubled childhood linger. The only light in his life comes from a chance encounter with Winifred, the girl he determines to make his wife.Meeting her friend Honora's silver-tongued brother turns Winifred's heart upside down. But Honora and Conal disappear, after a suffrage rally turns into a riot, and abandoned Winifred has nowhere to turn but home.The Great War intervenes, sending Bill abroad to be hardened in a furnace of carnage and loss. When he returns his dream is still of Winifred and the life they might have had… Back in Lancashire, worn down by work and the barbed comments of narrow-minded townsfolk, Winifred faces difficult choices in love and life.
- GenresFiction
409 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 17, 2017
5 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Judith Barrow
8 books67 followersJudith Barrow, originally from Saddleworth, a group of villages on the edge of the Pennines, has lived in Pembrokeshire, Wales, for over forty years.
She has an MA in Creative Writing with the University of Wales Trinity St David's College, Carmarthen. BA (Hons) in Literature with the Open University, a Diploma in Drama from Swansea University. She is a Creative Writing tutor and holds private one to one workshops on all genres.
She has an MA in Creative Writing with the University of Wales Trinity St David's College, Carmarthen. BA (Hons) in Literature with the Open University, a Diploma in Drama from Swansea University. She is a Creative Writing tutor and holds private one to one workshops on all genres.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
June 21, 2024
I have already read the books that make up the Howarth Family Saga Series which I thought were excellent, so I was delighted when I came across this prequel, which was written after the trilogy. You might think it was completed as an after-thought. A ploy by the author to produce yet another story using the same set of characters. But you couldn’t be more wrong. A Hundred Tiny Threads is a richly woven tapestry with each thread pulling together to create the founding of a family. The research has been methodically done, the story tightly plotted but you as the reader see none of the work that has gone into this because you are carried away on a story so realistic you could be standing on those same streets alongside characters real enough to touch.
Winifred Duffy is a young woman dominated by her mother and made to work in the family grocery shop. Her first glimpse of a life beyond her own comes in the form of a friend, Honora, and her brother, Conal. Winifred is soon drawn into the suffrage movement, and closer to Conal. However, when she finds herself alone, she has no option but to return home and face the difficult choices in front of her.
Bill Howarth falls for Winifred after meeting her in town and is determined to marry her, but he has already had a difficult start in life and bad choices make his dream a distant one. The Great War means he is then sent to fight and what he witnesses is beyond what most of us can even begin to imagine.
Beautifully written, this author does not hold back in showing the, at times, shocking brutalities of life and in places, this is a tough read. Certainly, knowing what we know by the end of the story made me uncomfortable about the outcome, but it definitely lays a fabulous foundation for the rest of the series. Or it can simply be read as a superb standalone.
I can’t recommend this series highly enough but start here. Start with the prequel, you won’t be disappointed.
Winifred Duffy is a young woman dominated by her mother and made to work in the family grocery shop. Her first glimpse of a life beyond her own comes in the form of a friend, Honora, and her brother, Conal. Winifred is soon drawn into the suffrage movement, and closer to Conal. However, when she finds herself alone, she has no option but to return home and face the difficult choices in front of her.
Bill Howarth falls for Winifred after meeting her in town and is determined to marry her, but he has already had a difficult start in life and bad choices make his dream a distant one. The Great War means he is then sent to fight and what he witnesses is beyond what most of us can even begin to imagine.
Beautifully written, this author does not hold back in showing the, at times, shocking brutalities of life and in places, this is a tough read. Certainly, knowing what we know by the end of the story made me uncomfortable about the outcome, but it definitely lays a fabulous foundation for the rest of the series. Or it can simply be read as a superb standalone.
I can’t recommend this series highly enough but start here. Start with the prequel, you won’t be disappointed.
September 12, 2018
It’s wholly irrational on my part, but I frequently shy away from books that I believe to be part of a “saga” – with some ridiculous expectation that they will be lesser in some way than the contemporary issues-based fiction that tends to make up much of my reading list. I hate to think what I might have been missing out on – this book was just stunning. If you’re looking for issues, you’ll certainly find them here, set against a social and political background vividly and compellingly described. The research that went into this book must have been immense, transformed into its vivid settings and the authentic portrayal of life of the time.
It’s a sweeping story that takes in life in the slums (and among those who perceive themselves rather more genteel), the rise of the Suffragette movement and the extraordinarily violent reaction to it, moves to the front during World War 1, travels to Ireland with the Black and Tans, and takes in the very different lives of those in the countryside. There are harrowing images in this book that seared themselves into my memory – and others that moved me deeply. But while its scale and reach took my breath away, at its heart it’s a story of two individuals, Winifred and Bill – the twists and turns of their own small lives, the events that changed the world and the lives of everyone they touched seen through their eyes and from their unique perspectives.
The characterisation is wonderful. Winifred is something of a heroine for her time, endeavouring to escape the control of her mother, both warm-hearted and immensely likeable. Bill is rather more of an enigma – his early attraction to and obsession with the lovely shop girl turning into something altogether darker and considerably more menacing. There’s an immense skill in retaining a reader’s compassion for a character when sometimes repelled by their actions – but the author certainly achieves it, making the relationship element of the story totally compelling. The book’s structure, with their alternating stories, drives the narrative at considerable pace, but also serves to bring the key characters vividly to life. Every supporting character is drawn in perfect detail – the excitement of the forbidden and different through Honora and Conal, the family relationships that are so complex and challenging. Every exchange, every moment of dialogue, is absolutely real, moving the story on and illuminating the characters, who have absolute historical authenticity.
When I emerged at the end of this book – during the reading, my immersion was total – it was with a sense of having experienced it all first hand, and of having deeply felt every moment. This was story-telling at its very best… and a book that will long linger in my memory.
It’s a sweeping story that takes in life in the slums (and among those who perceive themselves rather more genteel), the rise of the Suffragette movement and the extraordinarily violent reaction to it, moves to the front during World War 1, travels to Ireland with the Black and Tans, and takes in the very different lives of those in the countryside. There are harrowing images in this book that seared themselves into my memory – and others that moved me deeply. But while its scale and reach took my breath away, at its heart it’s a story of two individuals, Winifred and Bill – the twists and turns of their own small lives, the events that changed the world and the lives of everyone they touched seen through their eyes and from their unique perspectives.
The characterisation is wonderful. Winifred is something of a heroine for her time, endeavouring to escape the control of her mother, both warm-hearted and immensely likeable. Bill is rather more of an enigma – his early attraction to and obsession with the lovely shop girl turning into something altogether darker and considerably more menacing. There’s an immense skill in retaining a reader’s compassion for a character when sometimes repelled by their actions – but the author certainly achieves it, making the relationship element of the story totally compelling. The book’s structure, with their alternating stories, drives the narrative at considerable pace, but also serves to bring the key characters vividly to life. Every supporting character is drawn in perfect detail – the excitement of the forbidden and different through Honora and Conal, the family relationships that are so complex and challenging. Every exchange, every moment of dialogue, is absolutely real, moving the story on and illuminating the characters, who have absolute historical authenticity.
When I emerged at the end of this book – during the reading, my immersion was total – it was with a sense of having experienced it all first hand, and of having deeply felt every moment. This was story-telling at its very best… and a book that will long linger in my memory.
September 5, 2017
Winifred is quite naïve, living at home above her parents shop she is very much controlled by her Mother, Ethel. Made to work in the shop, she is desperate to have a life of her own and eager for new experiences. Ethel is very much one of those women that believes reputation is everything and Winifred has more or less lived a very sheltered life because of her. In steps Honora, an Irish girl and very much a free spirit. Winifred and Honora strike up a friendship which leads to Winifred having her eyes opened.
From the very first page, A Hundred Tiny Threads sweeps the reader up and transports them back to 1911. I have to admit I was very surprised with this book, I’ve never read anything by Judith Barrow before so I was expecting a good read going by the description, what I wasn’t expecting was to be so drawn in. Judith Barrow really had me there, back in 1911 along with Winifred, it almost felt like I was sitting there in the shop or out on the cobbled wintry streets.
The story alternates between Winifred and Bill Howarth. Winifred, very much likeable, Bill, very much not. Bill had a tough start to life but I couldn’t feel any sympathy for him what so ever, he is very much a character you love to hate and Barrow has done a wonderful job in describing his character and his journey. Even though they are both totally different characters, I couldn’t help rushing through the pages, eager to see what would happen next to each of them. A Hundred Tiny Threads is totally absorbing.
Not only is A Hundred Tiny Threads a blooming good story it’s like a hidden history lesson as well. With Winifred drawn into the women’s suffrage movement and Bills journey through WW1 and the Black and Tans, I was very much learning as I was reading. The horrors of the battlefield came alive and the bloodshed of the riots due to the suffragette rallies really were eye-opening and harrowing.
Judith Barrow has written a wonderful, descriptive story with many fabulous characters. A hundred Tiny Threads is a story that draws you in, it’s a story that is heart-breaking but it also has hope. It really shows what life was like back in the early twentieth century and I really didn’t want the story to end. I’ll definitely be looking out for more books from Judith Barrow and will be highly recommending A Hundred Tiny Threads.
From the very first page, A Hundred Tiny Threads sweeps the reader up and transports them back to 1911. I have to admit I was very surprised with this book, I’ve never read anything by Judith Barrow before so I was expecting a good read going by the description, what I wasn’t expecting was to be so drawn in. Judith Barrow really had me there, back in 1911 along with Winifred, it almost felt like I was sitting there in the shop or out on the cobbled wintry streets.
The story alternates between Winifred and Bill Howarth. Winifred, very much likeable, Bill, very much not. Bill had a tough start to life but I couldn’t feel any sympathy for him what so ever, he is very much a character you love to hate and Barrow has done a wonderful job in describing his character and his journey. Even though they are both totally different characters, I couldn’t help rushing through the pages, eager to see what would happen next to each of them. A Hundred Tiny Threads is totally absorbing.
Not only is A Hundred Tiny Threads a blooming good story it’s like a hidden history lesson as well. With Winifred drawn into the women’s suffrage movement and Bills journey through WW1 and the Black and Tans, I was very much learning as I was reading. The horrors of the battlefield came alive and the bloodshed of the riots due to the suffragette rallies really were eye-opening and harrowing.
Judith Barrow has written a wonderful, descriptive story with many fabulous characters. A hundred Tiny Threads is a story that draws you in, it’s a story that is heart-breaking but it also has hope. It really shows what life was like back in the early twentieth century and I really didn’t want the story to end. I’ll definitely be looking out for more books from Judith Barrow and will be highly recommending A Hundred Tiny Threads.
August 27, 2017
Winifred’s unhappy relationship with her mother will be just the start of her troubles.
My goodness what a super read A Hundred Tiny Threads is. There’s a cracking plot that is meticulously researched so that the setting and era are vivid and totally convincing, making reading this book a means to transport yourself into the past. There are so many elements that make A Hundred Tiny Threads not just an entertaining read, but a fascinating insight into social and political history in the early part of the twentieth century. I love it when I learn something new as I read and I certainly did here.
The quality of description is superb. There’s no shying away from the visceral, the violent and the mundane so that A Hundred Tiny Threads is a visual and auditory experience too. From the stench of the slums to the bloodshed of Suffragette demonstrations and the cacophony of the First World War battlefields I could picture everything in my mind’s eye.
Similarly, Judith Barrow’s characters are so well depicted. I found Bill especially complex and rounded. I didn’t much like his belligerent nature but I felt it was totally understandable and realistic. When I wasn’t reading A Hundred Tiny Threads I wondered what the characters were getting up to without me! I think it’s the wonderful direct speech that helps to create such an impression of real people.
I really enjoyed this read and I have to confess it surprised me. I haven’t read Judith Barrow before and was expecting a good book that would hold my attention. A Hundred Tiny Threads was so much better than merely good – it’s excellent. I was totally immersed in the story and sorry when the book ended because I loved the mature exploration of what makes a marriage at the heart of the story, from violence and obsession to love and loyalty. I recommend A Hundred Tiny Threads wholeheartedly. It’s a brilliant book.
https://lindasbookbag.com/2017/08/27/...
My goodness what a super read A Hundred Tiny Threads is. There’s a cracking plot that is meticulously researched so that the setting and era are vivid and totally convincing, making reading this book a means to transport yourself into the past. There are so many elements that make A Hundred Tiny Threads not just an entertaining read, but a fascinating insight into social and political history in the early part of the twentieth century. I love it when I learn something new as I read and I certainly did here.
The quality of description is superb. There’s no shying away from the visceral, the violent and the mundane so that A Hundred Tiny Threads is a visual and auditory experience too. From the stench of the slums to the bloodshed of Suffragette demonstrations and the cacophony of the First World War battlefields I could picture everything in my mind’s eye.
Similarly, Judith Barrow’s characters are so well depicted. I found Bill especially complex and rounded. I didn’t much like his belligerent nature but I felt it was totally understandable and realistic. When I wasn’t reading A Hundred Tiny Threads I wondered what the characters were getting up to without me! I think it’s the wonderful direct speech that helps to create such an impression of real people.
I really enjoyed this read and I have to confess it surprised me. I haven’t read Judith Barrow before and was expecting a good book that would hold my attention. A Hundred Tiny Threads was so much better than merely good – it’s excellent. I was totally immersed in the story and sorry when the book ended because I loved the mature exploration of what makes a marriage at the heart of the story, from violence and obsession to love and loyalty. I recommend A Hundred Tiny Threads wholeheartedly. It’s a brilliant book.
https://lindasbookbag.com/2017/08/27/...
June 2, 2021
Superb!
What a fantastic read! While it sounds so cliché, this novel grabbed my attention from the first page and gripped me until the very end.
The story begins in 1911, when we are introduced to Winifred, who works in a grocer’s shop with her miserable mother, Ethel. Winifred’s life changes when she meets an Irish girl, Honora, who pulls her into the Suffragettes cause … and one where she meets her friend’s handsome brother, Conal. Winifred’s life is suddenly more colorful, and happier, though it is also fraught with risk. Before she can enjoy what she sees as a new life, circumstances send her back to the shop with her condescending and cruel mother.
The reader is also introduced to Bill, rough around the edges. When he sees Winifred, he is determined that she is the one for him … and enraged to find her heart belongs to someone else.
I don’t want to give away this finely executed and beautifully paced story. It is rich with color, emotion, and details that play out like a film on the page. There’s no way I can resist reading more of this series. Judith Barrow is a gifted author with a deep understanding of the human spirit … with all of its flaws, desires, and determination to fight against impossible odds to find happiness.
What a fantastic read! While it sounds so cliché, this novel grabbed my attention from the first page and gripped me until the very end.
The story begins in 1911, when we are introduced to Winifred, who works in a grocer’s shop with her miserable mother, Ethel. Winifred’s life changes when she meets an Irish girl, Honora, who pulls her into the Suffragettes cause … and one where she meets her friend’s handsome brother, Conal. Winifred’s life is suddenly more colorful, and happier, though it is also fraught with risk. Before she can enjoy what she sees as a new life, circumstances send her back to the shop with her condescending and cruel mother.
The reader is also introduced to Bill, rough around the edges. When he sees Winifred, he is determined that she is the one for him … and enraged to find her heart belongs to someone else.
I don’t want to give away this finely executed and beautifully paced story. It is rich with color, emotion, and details that play out like a film on the page. There’s no way I can resist reading more of this series. Judith Barrow is a gifted author with a deep understanding of the human spirit … with all of its flaws, desires, and determination to fight against impossible odds to find happiness.
December 6, 2017
This novel brilliantly shows us the redemptive power of love and the importance of family. War brutalises but so does poverty. A Hundred Tiny Threads are woven together in this powerful story. Little snags mould characters as well as more dramatic setbacks. This book is far more true to life than a normal romance story. I doubt any reader could predict its ending, it certainly surprised me. There are no rosy tints but grit and determination see Winifred through a life of trials. Always shown, never told, we follow her through challenges that would have defeated many women. Thwarted but never beaten, her spirit remains strong through disillusion, disappointment and heartache. You'll end up willing her on to make a difficult decision right up to the last page.
October 23, 2017
Highly recommended - A brilliant prequel to the Howarth family saga
I read and reviewed the three books in the Howarth Family Saga series and was delighted to discover that Judith Barrow was going to release a prequel to the series. We meet Winifred Duffy and Bill Howarth well into middle-age in the trilogy, and it is wonderful to find out how they began life, and the experiences that formed their characters.
Winifred Duffy finds it difficult to bond with her rigidly unloving mother despite the best efforts of her father. Their grocery shop is a focal point in the street and being under the watchful eye of the neighbours makes their strained relationship worse. It is a time when the Suffragette movement is gathering pace, and much against her mother's wishes, Winifred becomes involved. Her new friends are vibrant and colourful. They are completely different to anyone that she has known before and they draw her into a dangerous liaison. Winifred has to develop the strength to overcome the consequences of these relationships if she is to continue to live within the narrow minded community around her.
Bill Howarth is a young man whose early life and time in the mines has marred him, leaving scars that make him unpredictable and angry. But Winifred catches his eye and ignites a love that is both powerful and destructive. Bill enlists to fight in the First World War and his experiences of the horror drives any compassion he might have had, deeper beneath his anger. This is reinforced with his service as part of the Black and Tans regiment in Ireland leaving him with few options if he is to find redemption.
Judith Barrow has created two very different characters that cross paths on a number of occasions, sometimes without being aware of each other’s existence. It is very difficult to like Bill Howarth, and it takes a skilled writer to instil some compassion and understanding for the young man he becomes. Winifred is much easier to admire, as she faces and overcomes some life-changing events, and comes to terms with secrets from the past.
The pace of the story is excellent, with several other wonderfully drawn characters such as Honara and her brother Conal, and the completely unlikeable Ethel Duffy. The history of the suffragette movement and the Irish conflict are very well portrayed, forming a compelling backdrop to the story of two young people being drawn into events, often beyond their control.
I recommend that if you have not already read the three books in the trilogy, that you begin with A Hundred Tiny Threads. This will offer you a wonderful introduction to the Howarth family that you will next meet during the Second World War. Also, having become familiar with the locations in this prequel, you will feel immediately at home when you encounter them in the first of the books, Pattern of Shadows.
I read and reviewed the three books in the Howarth Family Saga series and was delighted to discover that Judith Barrow was going to release a prequel to the series. We meet Winifred Duffy and Bill Howarth well into middle-age in the trilogy, and it is wonderful to find out how they began life, and the experiences that formed their characters.
Winifred Duffy finds it difficult to bond with her rigidly unloving mother despite the best efforts of her father. Their grocery shop is a focal point in the street and being under the watchful eye of the neighbours makes their strained relationship worse. It is a time when the Suffragette movement is gathering pace, and much against her mother's wishes, Winifred becomes involved. Her new friends are vibrant and colourful. They are completely different to anyone that she has known before and they draw her into a dangerous liaison. Winifred has to develop the strength to overcome the consequences of these relationships if she is to continue to live within the narrow minded community around her.
Bill Howarth is a young man whose early life and time in the mines has marred him, leaving scars that make him unpredictable and angry. But Winifred catches his eye and ignites a love that is both powerful and destructive. Bill enlists to fight in the First World War and his experiences of the horror drives any compassion he might have had, deeper beneath his anger. This is reinforced with his service as part of the Black and Tans regiment in Ireland leaving him with few options if he is to find redemption.
Judith Barrow has created two very different characters that cross paths on a number of occasions, sometimes without being aware of each other’s existence. It is very difficult to like Bill Howarth, and it takes a skilled writer to instil some compassion and understanding for the young man he becomes. Winifred is much easier to admire, as she faces and overcomes some life-changing events, and comes to terms with secrets from the past.
The pace of the story is excellent, with several other wonderfully drawn characters such as Honara and her brother Conal, and the completely unlikeable Ethel Duffy. The history of the suffragette movement and the Irish conflict are very well portrayed, forming a compelling backdrop to the story of two young people being drawn into events, often beyond their control.
I recommend that if you have not already read the three books in the trilogy, that you begin with A Hundred Tiny Threads. This will offer you a wonderful introduction to the Howarth family that you will next meet during the Second World War. Also, having become familiar with the locations in this prequel, you will feel immediately at home when you encounter them in the first of the books, Pattern of Shadows.
August 22, 2017
4.5 stars
How I discovered this book: I'd read the rest of this series and was looking forward to this prequel. I highly recommend the short stories attached to the series, Secrets.
This is the fourth book in the Pattern of Shadows series, though in some ways the first, because it's the prequel to the others, which are set in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. I'd recommend reading it first, anyway. It spans the years 1911 to 1923, and tells the story of earlier members of the Howarth family.
So, there was me thinking this was going to be an 'eh-up, love, put the kettle on' family drama amongst the cobbles, with a bit of WW1 angst thrown in. I was wrong; it's so much more than that, and far more interesting. The book starts with Winifred Duffy, daughter of 'orrible Ethel, joining up with some enchanting Irish scallywags with irritating dialogue tics who are involved in the fight for the women's vote. The story was jogging along in a modest fashion, until (enter stage left) along came Winifred's grandmother, Florence, who I loved, and whose story was heartbreaking. A moment later I was reintroduced to Bill Howarth (Mr Prologue), a thoroughly unlikeable character who grew increasingly despicable, and all of a sudden I realised I was engrossed. I do love a well-written nasty piece of work, and Judith Barrow has done a masterful job with Howarth. He'd had a bad start in life, yes, but I didn't pity him; my loathing of him grew more intense as the book progressed.
The saga moves through the treatment of the suffragettes, lost love, unwanted pregnancy, dark family secrets, the evil, pointless horror of WW1, the general godawful fate of the impoverished classes, the 1919 influenza epidemic, the atrocities committed by the Black and Tans ~ this is no rose-tinted piece of nostalgia, and no detail is spared. Saddest of all is the life of Winifred, in many ways; although she finds some degrees of happiness, the theme all the way through seemed to be how women of the time had to put up and shut up, and accept what they got, even if it was so much less than they deserved. This aspect of the book is so well done, without being hammered home. I was pleased that, although there was resolution, there was no great happy ending. 100 Tiny Threads is about real life, and quite an eye-opener it is too; it made me glad I wasn't born fifty years earlier, for sure.
When I got to the end, I wanted to nip back to Pattern of Shadows, set in WW2, to find out what happened to Bill and Winifred; it's two or three years since I read it, and I can't remember. D'you know, I think I will.
How I discovered this book: I'd read the rest of this series and was looking forward to this prequel. I highly recommend the short stories attached to the series, Secrets.
This is the fourth book in the Pattern of Shadows series, though in some ways the first, because it's the prequel to the others, which are set in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. I'd recommend reading it first, anyway. It spans the years 1911 to 1923, and tells the story of earlier members of the Howarth family.
So, there was me thinking this was going to be an 'eh-up, love, put the kettle on' family drama amongst the cobbles, with a bit of WW1 angst thrown in. I was wrong; it's so much more than that, and far more interesting. The book starts with Winifred Duffy, daughter of 'orrible Ethel, joining up with some enchanting Irish scallywags with irritating dialogue tics who are involved in the fight for the women's vote. The story was jogging along in a modest fashion, until (enter stage left) along came Winifred's grandmother, Florence, who I loved, and whose story was heartbreaking. A moment later I was reintroduced to Bill Howarth (Mr Prologue), a thoroughly unlikeable character who grew increasingly despicable, and all of a sudden I realised I was engrossed. I do love a well-written nasty piece of work, and Judith Barrow has done a masterful job with Howarth. He'd had a bad start in life, yes, but I didn't pity him; my loathing of him grew more intense as the book progressed.
The saga moves through the treatment of the suffragettes, lost love, unwanted pregnancy, dark family secrets, the evil, pointless horror of WW1, the general godawful fate of the impoverished classes, the 1919 influenza epidemic, the atrocities committed by the Black and Tans ~ this is no rose-tinted piece of nostalgia, and no detail is spared. Saddest of all is the life of Winifred, in many ways; although she finds some degrees of happiness, the theme all the way through seemed to be how women of the time had to put up and shut up, and accept what they got, even if it was so much less than they deserved. This aspect of the book is so well done, without being hammered home. I was pleased that, although there was resolution, there was no great happy ending. 100 Tiny Threads is about real life, and quite an eye-opener it is too; it made me glad I wasn't born fifty years earlier, for sure.
When I got to the end, I wanted to nip back to Pattern of Shadows, set in WW2, to find out what happened to Bill and Winifred; it's two or three years since I read it, and I can't remember. D'you know, I think I will.
October 20, 2017
The prequel to the Pattern of Shadows series, A Hundred Tiny Threads explores the lives of Winifred Duffy and Bill Howarth up to the beginning of their lives together. Winifred lives with her mother, the very unpleasant Ethel, and her much nicer and long suffering father, and works in the family’s grocery shop. Winifred is an innocent, leading a very sheltered life ruled by her mother. Until the day Honora O’Reilly enters her life with her independence and talk of a better life for women, persuading Winifred to join the Suffragette movement. That, and meeting Conal, Honora’s brother, changed Winifred’s life in ways she could never have envisioned.
The story alternates between the lives of Winifred and Bill Howarth, a young man who didn’t have the best of starts. Things were set to become so much worse for Bill with the terrible traumas and aftermath of life in the trenches during WW1 and his violent and cruel experiences with the Black and Tans. And although his nature was completely unappealing, the things he went through during the war went some way to explaining his character. I can’t even imagine what that experience would do to someone but I think Bill already had the beginnings of those tendencies that eventually came to the fore. Winifred, on the other hand, was an engaging character, easy to empathise with. There were no options for women in those days, and Winifred’s life was restrictive and quite sad for the most part. No wonder it wore her down. Having the story from both Winifred and Bill’s perspectives was very effective in building their characters, and gave the narrative impact.
Judith Barrow brings the characters and era to life, with authentic, vividly descriptive and atmospheric prose and dialogue. It’s an incredibly well crafted story and gives a compelling insight into life in the early part of the last century, the obviously well researched historical aspects are fascinating. No era is without its problems but life was certainly very challenging in the early 20th century. The reality is shown in a gritty true to life form. Nothing is glossed over; the harshness and hardships of everyday life, the horrors of the trenches and the aggressive treatment of the Suffragettes. I enjoyed the Pattern of Shadows trilogy very much and it was very satisfying to learn about Winifred and Bill’s early lives, the way their experiences shaped the people they became.
The story alternates between the lives of Winifred and Bill Howarth, a young man who didn’t have the best of starts. Things were set to become so much worse for Bill with the terrible traumas and aftermath of life in the trenches during WW1 and his violent and cruel experiences with the Black and Tans. And although his nature was completely unappealing, the things he went through during the war went some way to explaining his character. I can’t even imagine what that experience would do to someone but I think Bill already had the beginnings of those tendencies that eventually came to the fore. Winifred, on the other hand, was an engaging character, easy to empathise with. There were no options for women in those days, and Winifred’s life was restrictive and quite sad for the most part. No wonder it wore her down. Having the story from both Winifred and Bill’s perspectives was very effective in building their characters, and gave the narrative impact.
Judith Barrow brings the characters and era to life, with authentic, vividly descriptive and atmospheric prose and dialogue. It’s an incredibly well crafted story and gives a compelling insight into life in the early part of the last century, the obviously well researched historical aspects are fascinating. No era is without its problems but life was certainly very challenging in the early 20th century. The reality is shown in a gritty true to life form. Nothing is glossed over; the harshness and hardships of everyday life, the horrors of the trenches and the aggressive treatment of the Suffragettes. I enjoyed the Pattern of Shadows trilogy very much and it was very satisfying to learn about Winifred and Bill’s early lives, the way their experiences shaped the people they became.
August 21, 2017
I greatly enjoyed Judith Barrow’s Howarth family trilogy, so I was delighted to find that she had now written a prequel, and A Hundred Tiny Thread is a wonderful addition to the story. In some ways I like it even better. Having read the trilogy, of course I know how the marriage of Winifred and Bill finally works out, but that does not hinder, in any way, my curiosity as to how it all began and it is a gripping and moving story that explains so much and yet leaves me constantly thinking, if only…
I would guess that this book would be just as welcome for people who have never read Pattern of Shadows. It is a story of two people, of no consequence in the eyes of history perhaps, but who play their part in some of the most traumatic events of the last century. Bill is caught up in the horrors of the First World War and the atrocities of the Black and Tans, and Winifred is swept into the women’s suffrage movement and the violence that greeted it. But they both face private traumas too, in mines and chicken sheds and in births, deaths and scandals. Both, in their different ways, have a absolute determination to survive, but while Bill’s is on an almost animal level, Winifred shows the greater character. As I said, if only… An excellent read.
I would guess that this book would be just as welcome for people who have never read Pattern of Shadows. It is a story of two people, of no consequence in the eyes of history perhaps, but who play their part in some of the most traumatic events of the last century. Bill is caught up in the horrors of the First World War and the atrocities of the Black and Tans, and Winifred is swept into the women’s suffrage movement and the violence that greeted it. But they both face private traumas too, in mines and chicken sheds and in births, deaths and scandals. Both, in their different ways, have a absolute determination to survive, but while Bill’s is on an almost animal level, Winifred shows the greater character. As I said, if only… An excellent read.
June 9, 2018
We’ve all read epic family sagas—sweeping multi-generational tales like The Thorn Birds, The Godfather, Roots, the Star Wars franchise, and anything remotely connected to the British Monarchy. So as I read Judith Barrow’s Howarth Family trilogy, I kept trying to slot them into those multigenerational tropes:
*First generation, we were supposed to see the young protagonist starting a new life with a clean slate, perhaps in a new country.
*The next generation(s) are all about owning their position, fully assimilated and at home in their world.
*And the last generation is both rebel and synthesis, with more similarities to the first generation made possible by the confidence of belonging from the second one.
But the complex, three-dimensional miniatures I met in the first three books of the trilogy stubbornly refused to align with those tropes. First of all, there’s Mary Howarth—the child of parents born while Queen Victoria was still on the throne—who is poised between her parents’ Victorian constraints, adjustment to a world fighting a war, and their own human failures including abuse, alcoholism, and ignorance.When Pattern of Shadows begins in 1944, war-fueled anti-German sentiment is so strong, even the King has changed the British monarchy’s last name from Germanic Saxe-Coburg to Windsor. Mary’s beloved brother Tom is imprisoned because of his conscientious objector status, leaving their father to express his humiliation in physical and emotional abuse of his wife and daughters. Her brother Patrick rages at being forced to work in the mines instead of joining the army, while Mary herself works as a nurse treating German prisoners of war in an old mill now converted to a military prison hospital.
Mary’s family and friends are all struggling to survive the bombs, the deaths, the earthshaking changes to virtually every aspect of their world. We’ve all seen the stories about the war—plucky British going about their lives in cheerful defiance of the bombs, going to theaters, sipping tea perched on the wreckage, chins up and upper lips stiff in what Churchill called “their finest hour”. That wasn’t Mary’s war.
Her war is not a crucible but a magnifying glass, both enlarging and even inflaming each character’s flaws. Before the war, the Shuttleworth brothers might have smirked and swaggered, but they probably wouldn’t have considered assaulting, shooting, raping, or murdering their neighbors. Mary and her sister Ellen would have married local men and never had American or German lovers. Tom would have stayed in the closet, Mary’s father and his generation would have continued abusing their women behind their closed doors. And Mary wouldn’t have risked everything for the doomed love of Peter Schormann, an enemy doctor.
I was stunned by the level of historical research that went into every detail of these books. Windows aren’t just blacked out during the Blitz, for example. Instead, they are “criss crossed with sticky tape, giving the terraced houses a wounded appearance.” We’re given a detailed picture of a vanished world, where toilets are outside, houses are tiny, and privacy is a luxury.
The Granville Mill becomes a symbol of these dark changes. Once a cotton mill providing jobs and products, it’s now a prison camp that takes on a menacing identity of its own. Over the next two volumes of Howarth family’s story, it’s the mill that continues to represent the threats, hatred, and violence the war left behind.
Unlike the joyful scenes we’re used to, marking the end of the war and everyone’s return to prosperity and happiness, the war described in these books has a devastatingly long tail. When Changing Patterns takes up the story in 1950, Mary and Peter have been reunited and are living in Wales, along with her brother Tom.
But real life doesn’t include very many happy-ever-afters, and the Howarths have to live with the aftermath of the secrets each of them has kept. The weight of those secrets is revealed in their effect on the next generation, the children of the Howarth siblings. The battle between those secrets and their family bonds is a desperate one, because the life of a child hangs in the balance.
Finally, the saga seems to slide into those generational tropes in Living in the Shadows, the final book of the Howarth trilogy. Interestingly enough, this new generation does represent a blend of their preceding generations’ faults and strengths, but with the conviction of their modern identities. Where their parents’ generation had to hide their secrets, this new generation confidently faces their world: as gay, as handicapped, as unwed parents, and—ultimately shrugging off their parents’ sins—as family.
But I didn’t really understand all of that until I considered the title of the prequel (released after the trilogy). 100 Tiny Threads tells the story of that first generation, their demons, their loves, their hopes, and their failures, and most importantly, their strength to forge a life despite those failures. That book, along with the novella-sized group of short stories in Secrets, gives the final clues to understanding the trilogy. As Simone Signoret said, “Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads, which sew people together through the years.” And it’s both those secrets and those threads not only unite them into a family, but ultimately provide their strength.
This is the part where I’m supposed to tell you that each of these wonderful books can be read alone. But no, don’t do that. In fact, if you haven’t read any of them, you’re luckier than I am, because you can start with the prequel and read in chronological order. I chose to review these books as a set, and I believe that’s how they should be read.
Every now and then, I come across books so beautifully written that their characters follow me around, demanding I understand their lives, their mistakes, their loves, and in this case, their families. Taken together, the Howarth Family stories are an achievement worth every one of the five stars I’d give them.
*First generation, we were supposed to see the young protagonist starting a new life with a clean slate, perhaps in a new country.
*The next generation(s) are all about owning their position, fully assimilated and at home in their world.
*And the last generation is both rebel and synthesis, with more similarities to the first generation made possible by the confidence of belonging from the second one.
But the complex, three-dimensional miniatures I met in the first three books of the trilogy stubbornly refused to align with those tropes. First of all, there’s Mary Howarth—the child of parents born while Queen Victoria was still on the throne—who is poised between her parents’ Victorian constraints, adjustment to a world fighting a war, and their own human failures including abuse, alcoholism, and ignorance.When Pattern of Shadows begins in 1944, war-fueled anti-German sentiment is so strong, even the King has changed the British monarchy’s last name from Germanic Saxe-Coburg to Windsor. Mary’s beloved brother Tom is imprisoned because of his conscientious objector status, leaving their father to express his humiliation in physical and emotional abuse of his wife and daughters. Her brother Patrick rages at being forced to work in the mines instead of joining the army, while Mary herself works as a nurse treating German prisoners of war in an old mill now converted to a military prison hospital.
Mary’s family and friends are all struggling to survive the bombs, the deaths, the earthshaking changes to virtually every aspect of their world. We’ve all seen the stories about the war—plucky British going about their lives in cheerful defiance of the bombs, going to theaters, sipping tea perched on the wreckage, chins up and upper lips stiff in what Churchill called “their finest hour”. That wasn’t Mary’s war.
Her war is not a crucible but a magnifying glass, both enlarging and even inflaming each character’s flaws. Before the war, the Shuttleworth brothers might have smirked and swaggered, but they probably wouldn’t have considered assaulting, shooting, raping, or murdering their neighbors. Mary and her sister Ellen would have married local men and never had American or German lovers. Tom would have stayed in the closet, Mary’s father and his generation would have continued abusing their women behind their closed doors. And Mary wouldn’t have risked everything for the doomed love of Peter Schormann, an enemy doctor.
I was stunned by the level of historical research that went into every detail of these books. Windows aren’t just blacked out during the Blitz, for example. Instead, they are “criss crossed with sticky tape, giving the terraced houses a wounded appearance.” We’re given a detailed picture of a vanished world, where toilets are outside, houses are tiny, and privacy is a luxury.
The Granville Mill becomes a symbol of these dark changes. Once a cotton mill providing jobs and products, it’s now a prison camp that takes on a menacing identity of its own. Over the next two volumes of Howarth family’s story, it’s the mill that continues to represent the threats, hatred, and violence the war left behind.
Unlike the joyful scenes we’re used to, marking the end of the war and everyone’s return to prosperity and happiness, the war described in these books has a devastatingly long tail. When Changing Patterns takes up the story in 1950, Mary and Peter have been reunited and are living in Wales, along with her brother Tom.
But real life doesn’t include very many happy-ever-afters, and the Howarths have to live with the aftermath of the secrets each of them has kept. The weight of those secrets is revealed in their effect on the next generation, the children of the Howarth siblings. The battle between those secrets and their family bonds is a desperate one, because the life of a child hangs in the balance.
Finally, the saga seems to slide into those generational tropes in Living in the Shadows, the final book of the Howarth trilogy. Interestingly enough, this new generation does represent a blend of their preceding generations’ faults and strengths, but with the conviction of their modern identities. Where their parents’ generation had to hide their secrets, this new generation confidently faces their world: as gay, as handicapped, as unwed parents, and—ultimately shrugging off their parents’ sins—as family.
But I didn’t really understand all of that until I considered the title of the prequel (released after the trilogy). 100 Tiny Threads tells the story of that first generation, their demons, their loves, their hopes, and their failures, and most importantly, their strength to forge a life despite those failures. That book, along with the novella-sized group of short stories in Secrets, gives the final clues to understanding the trilogy. As Simone Signoret said, “Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads, which sew people together through the years.” And it’s both those secrets and those threads not only unite them into a family, but ultimately provide their strength.
This is the part where I’m supposed to tell you that each of these wonderful books can be read alone. But no, don’t do that. In fact, if you haven’t read any of them, you’re luckier than I am, because you can start with the prequel and read in chronological order. I chose to review these books as a set, and I believe that’s how they should be read.
Every now and then, I come across books so beautifully written that their characters follow me around, demanding I understand their lives, their mistakes, their loves, and in this case, their families. Taken together, the Howarth Family stories are an achievement worth every one of the five stars I’d give them.
October 15, 2018
A Hundred Tiny Threads is the prequel to Judith Barrows saga concerning the Howarth family.
I was a little apprehensive about buying this because prequels often disappoint, but I needn’t have worried – this book is easily as brilliant as her first one, Pattern of Shadows, and an engrossing and captivating read.
The novel gives us the back story of Winifred and Bill. As such, I’d read this book first but each one works as a standalone.
One of the draws for me of Pattern of Shadows was the authenticity of the setting with which I was familiar - Manchester in the fifties. A Hundred Tiny Threads is set further north, in Yorkshire, and begins in 1911, but the period feel is wonderful and unforced. You begin to appreciate the massive turmoil and change that affected those who lived through a decade that included the struggle of women for suffrage, the Second World War, the troubles in Ireland and the outbreak of Spanish Flu. All of these form a backdrop but the main thrust of the book concerns the hopes, fears, loves and hates of the central characters.
Judith Barrow’s book are peopled by three dimensional individuals with their own strengths and failings; we abhor the way someone behaves but can understand the motivation. As a consequence, we are drawn into their world and what happens to each of them matters.
The plot is expertly handled and there are surprises right up to the last page, all written with a masterful prose that gives a depth and freshness to the scenes.
‘The mud and the cadavers gave him up with wet sucking reluctance.’
‘The fear of losing her son curdled in her stomach.’
‘…dawn approached with the sporadic calls of birds, and the darkness became bleached with subtle blurred lines of light.’
In short, A Hundred Tiny Threads has all the hallmarks of a great novel. Don’t miss out – read it!
I was a little apprehensive about buying this because prequels often disappoint, but I needn’t have worried – this book is easily as brilliant as her first one, Pattern of Shadows, and an engrossing and captivating read.
The novel gives us the back story of Winifred and Bill. As such, I’d read this book first but each one works as a standalone.
One of the draws for me of Pattern of Shadows was the authenticity of the setting with which I was familiar - Manchester in the fifties. A Hundred Tiny Threads is set further north, in Yorkshire, and begins in 1911, but the period feel is wonderful and unforced. You begin to appreciate the massive turmoil and change that affected those who lived through a decade that included the struggle of women for suffrage, the Second World War, the troubles in Ireland and the outbreak of Spanish Flu. All of these form a backdrop but the main thrust of the book concerns the hopes, fears, loves and hates of the central characters.
Judith Barrow’s book are peopled by three dimensional individuals with their own strengths and failings; we abhor the way someone behaves but can understand the motivation. As a consequence, we are drawn into their world and what happens to each of them matters.
The plot is expertly handled and there are surprises right up to the last page, all written with a masterful prose that gives a depth and freshness to the scenes.
‘The mud and the cadavers gave him up with wet sucking reluctance.’
‘The fear of losing her son curdled in her stomach.’
‘…dawn approached with the sporadic calls of birds, and the darkness became bleached with subtle blurred lines of light.’
In short, A Hundred Tiny Threads has all the hallmarks of a great novel. Don’t miss out – read it!
September 3, 2022
Judith Barrow’s A Hundred Tiny Threads is a superbly written tale of a shopkeeper, his mean-spirited wife and their daughter, Winifred, on whom the spotlight mostly shines. It takes place in England in the early 1900’s and includes many historical events that are interwoven into the characters' lives.
Readers witness the loss of lives during both the Titanic and the Spanish Flu pandemic. Winifred gets pulled into the brutal fight for women’s voting rights during the Suffrage movement and sees women beaten and permanently mutilated; Bill is caught in the trenches fighting during WWI; and Conal ends up fighting to save lives as a doctor in the war zone and is also involved in the IRA upheaval.
As in life, some truths roll out and some are never revealed. Winifred discovers that she is not the daughter of the loving shopkeeper -father nor the disgruntled mother, but an orphan left on the shop doorstep. She has a son for her lover Conal who abandons her and does not return until 13 years later. She discovers his selfish reasons for finally coming back. By then, she has married Bill and never knowing that he robbed her father and accidentally caused his death. They go on to build a life with her son and later have a daughter together. As in life, there are not always pat answers and all the truth is not revealed, but the writing is excellent, and this piece mirrors real life!
Readers witness the loss of lives during both the Titanic and the Spanish Flu pandemic. Winifred gets pulled into the brutal fight for women’s voting rights during the Suffrage movement and sees women beaten and permanently mutilated; Bill is caught in the trenches fighting during WWI; and Conal ends up fighting to save lives as a doctor in the war zone and is also involved in the IRA upheaval.
As in life, some truths roll out and some are never revealed. Winifred discovers that she is not the daughter of the loving shopkeeper -father nor the disgruntled mother, but an orphan left on the shop doorstep. She has a son for her lover Conal who abandons her and does not return until 13 years later. She discovers his selfish reasons for finally coming back. By then, she has married Bill and never knowing that he robbed her father and accidentally caused his death. They go on to build a life with her son and later have a daughter together. As in life, there are not always pat answers and all the truth is not revealed, but the writing is excellent, and this piece mirrors real life!
August 27, 2022
I actually thought I’d read this book, but found I’d mixed the title up with another of Judith Barrow’s books. When I realised this was the prequel to her excellent trilogy, I bought it to read during my holiday and have just finished. I have been a long-standing fan of Ms Barrow’s work and found this novel equal to the rest in the quality if the story, the writing and the research. But above all, it is a riveting novel, following as it does the lives of Winnifred Duffy and Bill Howarth as they forge paths towards each other through the historical background of the times: the suffragette movement, World War 1 and the Irish troubles being the most dramatic and harrowing of the decade long story. This is an excellent read full of raw emotion and tremendous grit and courage. The way both women and men suffered due to the circumstances of the day is humbling, but for very different reasons. Highly recommended!
May 16, 2019
This book was promoted on Facebook and it is a testament to the power of this platform that I purchased this book. It is the first Judith Barrow book that I have read and will certainly look out for others.
I enjoy reading period dramas from any era. This one set between 1911 and 1923 is interesting in terms of the civil uprising in Ireland. The two main Irish characters, Conal and Honora were very charismatic and feisty. Friends of the main character Winifred they introduced her to a life she was unfamiliar with. From a sheltered background, she blossomed and became a stronger woman. However, fate changed her path and led her towards a very unsavory character - Bill Howarth.
This is a real page turner once it gets going. The characters are well developed and the storyline interesting throughout.
I enjoy reading period dramas from any era. This one set between 1911 and 1923 is interesting in terms of the civil uprising in Ireland. The two main Irish characters, Conal and Honora were very charismatic and feisty. Friends of the main character Winifred they introduced her to a life she was unfamiliar with. From a sheltered background, she blossomed and became a stronger woman. However, fate changed her path and led her towards a very unsavory character - Bill Howarth.
This is a real page turner once it gets going. The characters are well developed and the storyline interesting throughout.
April 14, 2018
I started reading ‘Patterns of Shadows’ then realized it would be better to read this book first as it is set before ‘Patterns of Shadows’. I also read ‘Secrets’ before and during this book as there are great background stories into many of the characters in this book. I check back to get back to see their stories while reading this book. I am really enjoying ‘A Hundred Tiny Threads’ and I am now over halfway thru it. I will go back to ‘Patterns of Shadows’ when I have finished this then on to the rest of the series.
December 1, 2017
A good saga, worth the read. Some errors need to be corrected (hence, the lower rating), but not distracting enough to compromise the story, which is interesting and historically pleasing. A family living through major global events in Britain, well researched and documented. I recommend all of Judith Barrow's works. She devotes much time, emotion, and drama to her characters and the plot. This book wets the appetite for more literature from this author.
April 14, 2020
A brilliant final instalment to this epic family saga. It goes back to the very beginning and explains the past of Winnie and Bill, making the story complete.
June 19, 2022
Actually 4.5 stars but I didn’t like the fact Winnifred ended up with a wife beater and her father’s killer! Very descriptive of the early 1900s period in history.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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