Busboys and Poets Books Presents The Thread Collectors
Date and Time
Oct 2, 2022 5:00 pm
Location
450K
450 K St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20001
Oct 2, 2022 5:00 pm
450K
Busboys and Poets Books Presents THREAD COLLECTORS
Join us to discuss this brilliant collaborative work and the importance of strength, hope, and unexpected friendships.
Authors Shaunna J. Edwards and Alyson Richman take us back to1863, there is a small Creole cottage in New Orleans, an ingenious young Black woman named Stella embroiders intricate maps on repurposed cloth to help enslaved men flee and join the Union Army. All while she is with a man who would kill her if he knew activities. Stella as well puts in great effort to keep her love for William, a Black soldier and a brilliant musician private.
In New York City, a Jewish woman stitches a quilt for her husband, who is stationed in Louisiana with the Union Army. Between abolitionist meetings, Lily rolls bandages and crafts quilts with her sewing circle for other soldiers, too, hoping for their safe return home. But when months go by without word from her husband, Lily resolves to make the perilous journey South to search for him.
Stella and Lily risk everything for love and freedom during the brutal Civil War, their paths converge in New Orleans, where an unexpected encounter leads them to discover that even the most delicate threads have the capacity to save us. This collaborative work is inspired by the authors' family histories.
Shaunna J. Edwards and Alyson Richman are joining the Busboys stage for a celebration and discussion of this new release. They will be joined in conversation by Debra Mayfield.
This event is free and open to all. Our program begins at 5:00 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A. Copies of THREAD COLLECTORS will be available for purchase before and during the event. Please note that this event will not be livestreamed.
We ask that guests RSVP in order to receive direct updates about the event from Busboys and Poets Books.
SHAUNNA J. EDWARDS has a BA in literature from Harvard College and a JD from NYU School of Law. A former corporate lawyer, she now works in diversity, equity and inclusion. She is a native Louisianian, raised in New Orleans, and currently lives in Harlem with her husband. The Thread Collectors is her first novel. Find her on Instagram, @shaunnajedwards.
ALYSON RICHMAN is the USA Today and #1 international bestselling author of several historical novels, including The Velvet Hours, The Garden of Letters, and The Lost Wife, which is currently in development for a major motion picture. Alyson graduated from Wellesley College with a degree in art history and Japanese studies. She is an accomplished painter and her novels combine her deep love of art, historical research, and travel. Alyson's novels have been published in twenty-five languages and have reached bestseller lists both in the United States and abroad. She lives on Long Island with her husband and two children, where she is currently at work on her next novel. Find her on Instagram, @alysonrichman.
Debra Mayfield is a Ph.D. candidate in U.S History at Georgetown University with a focus on African American Women’s resistance during slavery and the Reconstruction Era. A native of the DC Metro area, Debra earned her B.A. from Howard University and her J.D. from the University of Southern California. Before beginning her Ph.D. she worked for over a decade in television development in Los Angeles followed by several years working in both racial justice and environmental law and policy. She is currently working on her dissertation, tentatively titled, “Where I Lay My Head is My Country: African American Female Expatriates in the 19th Century.”
