Book Review: One Long Thread by Belinda Jeffrey

Summary (UQP website)

To produce one long thread of silk, a weaver must never allow the silkworm to fully transform or ever emerge from the cocoon into the light.
Ruby and Sally Moon are twins, cut from the same cloth but as different as night and day. While Sally is bold and adventurous, Ruby is quiet and creative. When divorce splits their family in two, and Sally moves with their mother to the Northern Territory, Ruby holds onto the thought that one day her family will be complete again.

But when tragedy strikes, wrapping Sally in a cocoon from which she might never escape, Ruby learns that love is never simple but one of the many tangled branches in her family tree.

Comments

I thoroughly enjoyed this thoughtful, character-driven YA novel. I enjoyed reading Ruby’s perspective on her life, from her childish perceptions of her parents’ relationship and break-up to her reflections on her relationship with her twin sister and her grandmother.

One Long Thread is a story that explores how families are connected in a way that extends beyond the actual relationship between individuals. Family relationships are complex, evolving things and I thought the story reflected that very well. I found Ruby’s uncertainty about her future also rang very true for me. Despite her obvious dressmaking and fashion design skills, Ruby remains uncertain about what path she should choose, doubting her abilities and distracted by the changing dynamics of her family relationships.

I did find myself waiting for Ruby’s father’s character to develop further, but the relationships between the three generations of women were the focus of the story and I understand that placed him and other characters firmly in a secondary role. There were misunderstandings and tragic disconnections between characters, but there was also a wonderful thread of hope woven through the story that balanced some of the more challenging relationship issues.

Beyond the relationship themes of the book, I found the information about the silk worms (and the associated themes) and the fashion discussions quite interesting and I liked the way this all came together at the end of the story.

One Long Thread is certainly a more thoughtful and slow-moving story than many of the YA books that I have read recently, but I enjoyed the change of pace and the more reflective tone of this novel. This was my first Belinda Jeffrey novel and I am already looking for further books by this Australian author.

Book Details
Title: One Long Thread
Author: Belinda Jeffrey
Publisher: UQP, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7022-3892-5 (241 pages)
Genre: Young adult fiction
Recommended ages: 12+

Additional Links

• My review of One Long Thread at Kids Book Review
• Downloadable teachers’ notes from UQP