Threads and Flames

No, this is not a post about how I burned down my sewing room, but it is a book about nearly the same thing.  Threads and Flames, written by Esther Friesner, is an historical novel based around the account of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire that happened in 1911.  The first time I had been reminded of this incident (it seemed familiar to me) was last summer when I went on a documentary binge and learned all about it.  It was a terrible tragedy in American history that hardly anyone knows about.  So when I saw that this book took place surrounding those events I picked it right up.

The story follows Raisa, a Polish Jew who comes over to America to finally begin living with her older sister.  Only her sister has disappeared and so she is left with no one to live with, no job, and no prospects of finding one.  She finally finds a place to live and a job but is so bogged down by the job that she can't do anything but eat, sleep, and work, which leaves no time for her to find her sister.  When she finally gets a job at the Triangle Factory she has the time to learn English, try to find her sister, and live a more full life; except she can't forsee what will happen on a fateful Saturday in March or how it will affect her life thereafter.

This is a great read with little language but with some semi-explicit descriptions of the fire and the burn victims.  The author takes some liberty in the procedures followed to get Raisa into America but the book isn't about immigration so it doesn't detract from the story.