The Crimson Thread: A Retelling of "Rumpelstiltskin" by Suzanne Weyn

Pages: 207

Rating: G

Summary:
The year is 1880, and Bertie, having just arrived in New York with her family, is grateful to be given work as a seamstress in the home of textile tycoon J. P. Wellington. When the Wellington family fortune is threatened, Bertie's father boasts that Bertie will save the business, that she is so skillful she can "practically spin straw into gold."
Amazingly, in the course of one night, Bertie creates exquisite evening gowns -- with the help of Ray Stalls, a man from her tenement who uses an old spinning wheel to create dresses that are woven with crimson thread and look as though they are spun with real gold. Indebted to Ray, Bertie asks how she can repay him. When Ray asks for her firstborn child, Bertie agrees, never dreaming that he is serious....

My Thoughts: Ok, so the story is, this family is Irish immigrants, and they're struggling to survive in a new world that isn't quite as full of opportunity than they thought. I was a little confused at first because Bertie is originally Bridget, but the entire family changes their names in an effort to seem less Irish and more American. Bertie is a good seamstress, and she becomes even more skilled after she is hired on at the Wellingtons. Under the tutelage of the head seamstress there, Bertie learns everything she needs to be successful as a seamstress, but is not prepared for her father's overwhelming boast that she can create dresses so amazing. Bertie has no choice but to let Ray continue to help her, because if she does not continue to produce the dresses, both she and her father will lose their jobs.

I liked this book actually quite a lot. I got really into the story, it's a quick read, and it was a nice version of Rumpelstiltskin. There are definitely unexpected twists and turns, and the way the author works the name "Rumpelstiltskin" into the story is very clever. Of course, the story has a cheesy, fairy tale, happy, lovey dovey ending, but that's to be expected from a fairy tale. Some parts of it seemed a little too easy, simple, as if that would never happen in real life, but again, it's a fairy tale. Overall, I'd recommend this little book to anyone. The only real romance is in the end, they kiss one time, so it's very very clean.