“When my hands were little, and my mother was teaching me to sew, she placed her hands over mine. She put her middle finger, encased in a pitted silver thimble, at the end of the needle and pushed for me. This finger, with the thimble, is a little engine, she said. It makes the needle go.”
Ahab’s Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund, Page 70
“I thought of the miles and miles of thread that her thimble had pulled through the cloth. What song had the needle sung to the fibers of the fabric? When she quilted, the needle passed through three layers: the pieced top, the inner batting, and the sturdy muslin underlayer. If all the thread from all her quilts were measured, would it stretch a thousand miles? Had her needle trudged, as a man’s foot might trudge, over a journey of a thousand miles?”
Ahab’s Wife
“She sat still, I thought, and yet she traveled. And when one stitches, the mind travels, not the way men do, with ax and oxen through the wilderness, but surely our traveling counted too, as motion. And I thought of the patience of the stitches. Writing a book, I thought, which men often do, but women only rarely, has the posture of sewing. One hand leads, and the other hand helps. And books, like quilts, are made one word at a time, one stitch at a time.”
Ahab’s Wife
such a thoughtful post.
Thanks for sharing this reading of yours. I was not aware of this book, so your daughter would be astonished again.
I love the way you live your life.
I think there are so many books in the world that are “sleepers” just waiting to be discovered. Well, you know that I share the mutual admiration of a life well-lived.
I have another of her books to read (Sherlock in Love). Might have to start it this weekend.
I recently was in a bookstore to see what other books I could find. Only one other was on the shelf, a book about Marie Antoinette. It looked great too. When I returned home I researched some of the others and found she has written quite a few. As Ahab’s Wife is 600+ pages, I am not sure how quickly or soon I will get to the others, but my curiosity has been pinched and now I am eager to explore more of her thoughts and writings.
So, Deb, may I implore you to name here or on your blog the other 9 favorites of the 10 that are you all-time favorites??!
i have nothing to add. i will bring the peace from this to mom today.
You have been so generous in your care and appreciation of this post, Jude. I think Sena Jeter Naslund who wrote Ahab’s Wife must have been emulating someone like you when she wrote this beautiful passage. Thank you.
“And books are like quilts, made with one word at a time, one stitch at a time”. That will stick with me. How I love to read one word at a time to quilt it into a story. Wonderful way of looking at life. One breath, one step, all adding up to one life. Go the slow way. Enjoy every moment. Watch our steps add up to the quilt of our life.
Thank you.
Your words were pure poetry. You could not have written this without some deeper perception and understanding of this idea in the first place.
When I want to feel better, I just click on your Mendofleur blog! I had quite a bit of catching up to do, and it was pleasant to spend a few minutes reading about your view of life. I now have Ahab’s Wife on my “To Read” list and I have sent your Mom a summer blessing. I am glad you got to spend time with your lovely daughters, thanks for sharing them with me. Good luck updating your skirt, let’s see a photo of you in it soon! I think the skirt looks pretty just hanging there as it is, but I know how it goes….
Well your compliment is far too generous for someone as modest as I am, but I appreciate the thoughts. Definitely this book is one of the gems. Already I am dreading the ending because I do not want it to ever be finished. I have my oldest daughter, Linsey, to thank for this suggestion and later the reminder to go pick it up and start the first page.
I read Ahabs’s wife after Deb told me about it. I read it the summer my dad was ill and the family took turns sitting by his side. We were lucky as he was at home in Comptche. Deb’s dad and i spent most of the summer there that year . It was a summer full of joy and sadness . I also spent a lot of the time knitting sock, runs in the family.
gilda
I think your daughter, Deb is remarkable. I am very anxious to hear what other great books are her favorites. As I trust my two daughters reading suggestions, I also have great trust in Deb’s choices as well. And, of course, this book has very special meaning for you. In fact, it will be one book that you never will forget because of the circumstances with your dad. I know well the poignancy of joy and sadness as a parent lays ill and dying.
So you are a sock knitter too? This is first on my list for the fall. I want to learn how to knit socks, and I wish that you and Deb lived closer so you could teach me!
What beautiful words…and so true.
Thank you for sharing the quotes from the book.
I will have to read this one at some point.
I love seeing pictures of stitching hands…reminds
me of my mother.
I think you of all people would love this book! When Jude asked that we post our hands before the class ended, I thought what a perfect idea and one that is such a true and honest spiritcloth conception. It is a way of touching hearts….through our hands, as only Jude could do.
followed the breadcrumbs through the forest from Jude’s page
was part of a splendid sewing circle last week
much storytelling and happy stitching
looks as though
this is a book i need to search for…
I have a stack of books piled on a table that are my priorities. Sometimes I fail to get to them as soon as I should. Always there are other things that seem to take precedence far too often. However, when my daughter reminded me, again, after seeing the book, that it was not one to miss and that she was astonished that I had not yet read it, I decided then and there to drop all other reading and begin this jewel of a book. Now I am keeping my eye out for it whenever I can steal a moment here and there to pick it up and read another chapter or one more page. I think you would like it. I love your book Eco Colour!
Our mothers teach us and we keep learning new lessons as our own life goes forward. Wonderful quote-thank you for sharing.
Oh how true this is….our mothers teach us and sometimes we never realize until very late in life how it all came together and provided us with a passion that keeps unfolding.
Thank you for this focusing post…you always do this so well. And thanks for the heading for the book.
It is a book for all women in any time or place or season of life. It goes quite deep in so many respects.
Like India, I followed the trail from Jude.
One stitch at a time, from mother to daughter, from the past to the future, many lifetimes of stitches. Thank you for this post.
When I read this passage it reminded me of all the connections and stories that are attached to this stitching life, not only from my mother but both of my grandmothers. This is the legacy that I would love to pass on to my daughters as well as my granddaughter. Somehow, the thread never seems to be broken. We keep re-threading it and passing the needle along.
this is such a beautiful posting .. wonderfully uplifting yet calming words that centre – thank you
I think we would all agree that the ideas here give us a past, a present, and a future……the never-ending thread that weaves it all together.
Have just discovered your blog via Jude..
just what I need as I adjust to my slow life.
Slow living, a slow life, is a practice that calls for patience and self-caring, things that are often hard to give ourselves in a frenetic world.
I absolutely positively adored Ahab’s Wife. I spent the entire summer of 2000 reading and rereading it (slow reading??). It grabbed my imagination and I became thoroughly entranced with the world that Sena Jeter Naslund created. It is why I spend my summer’s on the beach at Assateague, Virginia, sewing and swimming and watching my son swim. It is a “keeper” book. I might have to reread it again this summer.
Thank you for your contribution in describing your love of this book. It seems to be one of those books that people want to return to for a second reading. I think one of the reasons it might go slowly besides the fact that it is over 600 pages is that I find myself re-reading certain passages that I love like the one I shared on my post. Naslund’s writing is so lyrical and descriptive and true. And her characters so solid and believable that it is hard to think sometimes that it is a work of fiction. Your summers sound idyllic…..on the beach with your son sewing and swimming and reading. As far as I am concerned that would be a summer of total contentment and slow living, the finest kind imaginable.
Sorry, my comment was misleading. Weekends only. I’m like everyone else, I have to work. But weekends are very slow and idyllic.
Beautiful Mom!
When I am walking in a bookstore (especially Powell’s) I’m overwhelmed by the books around me and the thought that there is a story, some glorious, beautifully written gem, that I might miss reading before I die. I see the pile of books waiting to be read in my room and wonder what treasures I have yet to discover.
I picked up Ahab’s Wife in one of those moment’s and the image on the cover, the period in which it’s set, and the dense number of pages assured me this would be a story I would crawl into and live for a while. You know how I love that!
I’m so thrilled that you are loving this book – I may have to revisit it myself.
I can always trust that if I pick up a book recommended by you that it will be just as you described, a treasure to discover and a gem not to be missed. I am so far behind in getting through my stack of books these days and realizing it needs to be more of a goal especially since Ahab’s Wife was left sitting on that stack far too long! It seems this book is loved be so many!
What a wondrful post. Thank you Phyllis, I must read Ahab’s wife very soon! Peace, tranquility and perfectly-paced sewing to you… xxx
The comments and original post about Ahab’s Wife compelled me to order the book right away. I am SO thrilled I did!
I ordered the hardbound and it is beautifully made with very nice paper. The story grabs you by the ears from the very first page and doesn’t let go. This is the first book I have read that I would say is equal to Steinbeck (my favorite author).
Thank you for alerting me to this fabulous author and book.
I had not heard of this author before seeing your post, I have now started reading Ahab’s Wife and am so delighted with it, the language, the writing is just superb. Thank you
This is such a wonderful post. I also love the photographs you used to illustrate it.
I am so happy to have Jude’s class to look forward to.
I am putting Ahab’s Wife on my list of “Must Read”
Our house is quiet for just a few days while the families are in NYC…then they will be back for three days.
It will be hard to see them all go back to Denmark……..I will miss them and all the activity