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Nell's Quilt
Urged at the age of eighteen to marry a man she doesn't want, Nell delays the event by working on a quilt, slowly starving herself, and observing the unhappy lot of many women in turn-of-the century Massachusetts before arriving at a decision to rescue herself from the brink of death and take charge of her life.
177 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
August 11, 2007
Oddly enough this book inspired my interest in quiliting, especially "crazy quilting".
January 28, 2016
Another book I picked up off the library free shelf! It was a quick interesting read set in 1899 about the lack of choices women had during this time. It saddened me that Nell was being forced into a marriage at 18 with a man she didn't want to marry. In response to her lack of control over her life, she developed an eating disorder. It was interesting to read the possible outlook of this illness during this point in history. I am glad Nell finally fought back - however I was surprised that she wasn't angry about her sister marrying this man in her place. Maybe she'll rage once she is well? Maybe she'll marry the boy she wanted to instead?
January 11, 2015
I just closed the cover on Nell's Quilt by Susan Terris. I am feeling very disturbed and not sure how to even start writing a review for this book. I bought this book thinking it would be about a young girl making a wedding quilt in 1899. I did not count on the dark and depressing story that would unfold in its pages. I know that eating disorders exist and it cannot be easy for the person experiencing them or their families but it was very unexpected that this is what the story is about.
I had no idea when I bought it as the book description is misleading once again. This happened to me once already this year in another book called The Fisherman's Quilt. What is sad to me is that the descriptions of Nell making her crazy quilt down to the stitches used were very good. The writing of things going on in the daily life of Amherst, Massachusetts in 1899 were also intriguing. But the dark nature of this book just left me asking what the author was thinking and why would she write it intended for the young girls she had as her target market?
As a quilter, I find it is leaving me with a dark cloud around me and I just want to put on an audio book to entertain me and quilt away these feelings of distaste from this book. Needless to say, I would not recommend it to anyone and would not want my child to read it.
I had no idea when I bought it as the book description is misleading once again. This happened to me once already this year in another book called The Fisherman's Quilt. What is sad to me is that the descriptions of Nell making her crazy quilt down to the stitches used were very good. The writing of things going on in the daily life of Amherst, Massachusetts in 1899 were also intriguing. But the dark nature of this book just left me asking what the author was thinking and why would she write it intended for the young girls she had as her target market?
As a quilter, I find it is leaving me with a dark cloud around me and I just want to put on an audio book to entertain me and quilt away these feelings of distaste from this book. Needless to say, I would not recommend it to anyone and would not want my child to read it.
July 19, 2015
Rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements.
This was not much like I expected. I think I was expecting something along the lines of Homeless Bird, which was, if sad, a hopeful book that I thoroughly enjoyed. However, Nell's Quilt focuses on a young woman who fears marriage, and, when she receives a proposal from a widower with a young daughter, feels obligated to accept his offer. She truly wants to go to college and fight for women's suffrage, but her family's financial difficulties and their expectations for her lead her to believe that she has no other options.
In order to cope with her rapidly changing life, Nell begins to use the fabric scraps that her grandmother collected and put them together into a crazy quilt. It proves not to be a balm, though, but a medium through which she spirals into despair and obsession. The crazier and larger the quilt gets, the more Nell's family begins to realize that she needs help, for she has spiraled into anorexia as well.
This is a dark and depressing book with only a few glimpses of light. It does end with a bit of faint hope, but, on the whole, it is a serious look at the issues that youth have always faced upon growing up. It's not just about the women, although that is what this book focuses on; it is about the pain of growing up and learning how to be responsible but still remain true to oneself.
This was not much like I expected. I think I was expecting something along the lines of Homeless Bird, which was, if sad, a hopeful book that I thoroughly enjoyed. However, Nell's Quilt focuses on a young woman who fears marriage, and, when she receives a proposal from a widower with a young daughter, feels obligated to accept his offer. She truly wants to go to college and fight for women's suffrage, but her family's financial difficulties and their expectations for her lead her to believe that she has no other options.
In order to cope with her rapidly changing life, Nell begins to use the fabric scraps that her grandmother collected and put them together into a crazy quilt. It proves not to be a balm, though, but a medium through which she spirals into despair and obsession. The crazier and larger the quilt gets, the more Nell's family begins to realize that she needs help, for she has spiraled into anorexia as well.
This is a dark and depressing book with only a few glimpses of light. It does end with a bit of faint hope, but, on the whole, it is a serious look at the issues that youth have always faced upon growing up. It's not just about the women, although that is what this book focuses on; it is about the pain of growing up and learning how to be responsible but still remain true to oneself.
December 2, 2014
I read this book orginally as a preteen. I think that the underlying issues were above my comprehention at the time. I couldn't understand someone limiting thier food and destroying something they cherrished. As an adult the eating disorder theem is terrifying and so very sad.
I felt for Nell, being pushed into marriage and away from the life she wanted. I found myself wrapped up in her decisions and trying to cheer her on, even though I didn't think the book would end differently than it did on my first reading.
This is quick and good book, but I wouldn't call it an enjoyable read as the subject is so very uncomfortable.
I felt for Nell, being pushed into marriage and away from the life she wanted. I found myself wrapped up in her decisions and trying to cheer her on, even though I didn't think the book would end differently than it did on my first reading.
This is quick and good book, but I wouldn't call it an enjoyable read as the subject is so very uncomfortable.
January 21, 2017
Takes place in 1899. The neighbor who is a widower with a young child wants to marry Nell. She is not attracted to him & doesn't want to marry him. Nell overhears her parents talking about money & her father said he maybe could borrow some money from Anson, the widower, after Nell marries him. She feels she has to marry him to help her parents out of their financial dilemma. She gets engaged.
Then she slowly goes downhill, physically & mentally because she doesn't want to get married. The only thing she wants to do is work on her unique quilt.
A story line unlike any other you've likely read.
Then she slowly goes downhill, physically & mentally because she doesn't want to get married. The only thing she wants to do is work on her unique quilt.
A story line unlike any other you've likely read.
October 18, 2014
I originally bought this book to add to my 7th grade classroom library. Thankfully I read it first. I have never been one for censorship but I couldn't with good conscience put this in the hands of young girls. It doesn't foster understanding of a disease that is all too common among young girls in America. Instead, it cryptically explores eating disorders from a place of little research. Besides the lack of research, the story makes little sense, plot lines are left undeveloped and the characters are shallow. It is a dark book with no resolution.
February 14, 2018
It's aimed at teens so would be better enjoyed by someone not so far from teen-hood I think.
The book is narrated by an 18 year old who feels she has no control over her life. She decides that controlling her food intake is the only thing she has power to control in her life. When Nell is at her lowest, she stops referring to herself in the first person and instead uses the third person point of view to show how removed she is from real life. Does she let herself slip away? or does she regain control of her life and start living life again? You'll have to read it to find out for yourself.
The book is narrated by an 18 year old who feels she has no control over her life. She decides that controlling her food intake is the only thing she has power to control in her life. When Nell is at her lowest, she stops referring to herself in the first person and instead uses the third person point of view to show how removed she is from real life. Does she let herself slip away? or does she regain control of her life and start living life again? You'll have to read it to find out for yourself.
August 18, 2019
Raw and powerful, this book is a must read, especially for younger adults and teens, or anyone who could use a lesson in empathy.
This book is not about quilting.
Nell's Quilt is a beautiful read: though depressing, it is life, real-life that most people want to turn their heads from. It shows the real dilapidation of a strong woman forced to give up her wanted future, herself, made weak, deciding to choose her own weakness as power. The quilt is a fixation, becoming more as she becomes less and less, the reality of what depression can do to a strong-willed person.
This book is not about quilting.
Nell's Quilt is a beautiful read: though depressing, it is life, real-life that most people want to turn their heads from. It shows the real dilapidation of a strong woman forced to give up her wanted future, herself, made weak, deciding to choose her own weakness as power. The quilt is a fixation, becoming more as she becomes less and less, the reality of what depression can do to a strong-willed person.
September 13, 2015
I found this book unsettling and unexpected, and yet I couldn't put it down. Nell, the protagonist, struggles with an eating disorder and suicidal thoughts. While I would normally consider those a bit of a spoiler, I feel that in this case it's better to know about these issues ahead of reading it.
December 6, 2020
I read this book when I was in 7th grade, and it was the first novel to ever make a real impact on me. I am still only in highschool, but I'm currently re-reading this book to write a report on and I still love it. We follow Nell, a young girl who feels obligated to marry her cousin and not pursue her dreams of getting an education due to financial difficulties. She loses who she is and drowns herself in making a quilt and starving herself. I always like books like this, reading about the mind of somebody going insane or irrational, kind of a Catch-22-esc theme. The use of first and third person was SO smart and the empty hollow feeling it leaves you with at the end is just as beautiful as the book.
A lot of people are criticizing the incredibly dark nature of this book, but that's just as its meant to be. Dark, disturbing, uncomfortable, just as these issues are in the real world.
Great novel, fascinates me every time I pick it up.
A lot of people are criticizing the incredibly dark nature of this book, but that's just as its meant to be. Dark, disturbing, uncomfortable, just as these issues are in the real world.
Great novel, fascinates me every time I pick it up.
February 6, 2019
I’ve read this book twice—once as a preteen, and again in my forties, to see if it was as disturbing as I remembered. I wonder how much research the author did on the time period. Would an 18-year old girl from that time period really be astonished that her lot in life was to be married? And does that spunk that’s mentioned in the beginning not lead her to think of ANY alternatives? For someone who supposedly yearns for college and learning, she’s a remarkably passive character. The progression of anorexia does seem to be realistically portrayed, but overall the book was just… weird.
March 7, 2018
This is one of this first chapter books I remember reading that had a really tremendous impact on me. It's a well crafted story about self-hood and the power of choice. It's not a happy book, but powerful.
December 14, 2024
Terrible book. Dark, depressing slide into mental illness and eating disorder that ends abruptly with no real finish. Leaves you hanging in the worst way, although by the time you get to the end, you're so glad it's over that maybe the abrupt cut-off isn't such a bother after all.
September 9, 2019
Will review later
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January 31, 2020I should probably reread this to be fair in giving stars, since I read this thirty years ago, but I just remember how depressing it was.
January 31, 2010
this is a really interesting and smart YA book that follows a young woman (Nell) at the turn of the century - her grandmother (RIP) was a suffragette and Nell longs for that life, but she's stuck on a farm and is being pressured to marry Anson Tanner - which would significantly ease her family's financial burden. mostly due to her accommodating nature, she agrees to marry Anson, and then descends into anorexia as a psychological protest. when she begins losing herself to her mental disorder, the narrative shifts very elegantly from first to third person. there's a lot of feminism in this book, and i'd argue that the choice to write a historical novel about anorexia that takes place in 1899/1900, in the late 1980s, which witnessed a surge in eating disorders, implies a linkage between the two time periods -- the similarity perhaps being the cognitive dissonance that results from the contradiction between so-called advancements in women's rights versus actual social conditions for women, and that results in psychological problems like hysteria/anorexia that actually do function as bodily protests.
June 15, 2010
Nell Edmonds is a 18 year-old girl at the turn of the 20th century who wants to go to college and make something of her life, as her grandmother did. Instead, in order to help her family, she agrees to marry a widower with a young chile.
She is mistaken in agreeing to, especially as her family also wants her happiness. None of them has urged her to marry, saying that it must be her choice. Only her friend, Rob, tells her that it is a mistake and that she must not marry Anson.
In her unhappines, she begins to make a crazy quilt from scraps that her grandmother had planned to use for the quilt. And as she sews, she begins to let herself get thinner and thinner. She has rules about what and how much she eats. She feels that the quilt and her own body are all that she can control in her life.
As her anerexia progresses, she exchanges places with her "delicate" younger sister. As Nell grows weaker and sicker, Eliza grows stronger and more vibrant. Nell's engagement is broken, and she is being watched by her mother and father as she fades away. Will she regain her will to live?
I recommend this book.
She is mistaken in agreeing to, especially as her family also wants her happiness. None of them has urged her to marry, saying that it must be her choice. Only her friend, Rob, tells her that it is a mistake and that she must not marry Anson.
In her unhappines, she begins to make a crazy quilt from scraps that her grandmother had planned to use for the quilt. And as she sews, she begins to let herself get thinner and thinner. She has rules about what and how much she eats. She feels that the quilt and her own body are all that she can control in her life.
As her anerexia progresses, she exchanges places with her "delicate" younger sister. As Nell grows weaker and sicker, Eliza grows stronger and more vibrant. Nell's engagement is broken, and she is being watched by her mother and father as she fades away. Will she regain her will to live?
I recommend this book.
February 27, 2008
God, what an awful book. Somehow I missed, after reading of summaries that seemed to describe this as Laura Ingalls meets American Girl meets Shabanu, the part about the main character going completely off her rocker.
The author couldn't seem to make up her mind about whether she was writing 1800s young adult fiction or psychological horror/drama. The "heroine" swung between sane and mildly happy to anorexic and insane. It's told in the first person, so I eventually felt like I was the one going insane.
The men in the story were weird: her father was skirted around by the author, her best friend an idiot, her intended husband blind and the creep next door so obviously a wife-beating, abusive, pervert/pedophile it's a wonder the neighbors didn't put together a lynch mob.
The author couldn't seem to make up her mind about whether she was writing 1800s young adult fiction or psychological horror/drama. The "heroine" swung between sane and mildly happy to anorexic and insane. It's told in the first person, so I eventually felt like I was the one going insane.
The men in the story were weird: her father was skirted around by the author, her best friend an idiot, her intended husband blind and the creep next door so obviously a wife-beating, abusive, pervert/pedophile it's a wonder the neighbors didn't put together a lynch mob.
November 4, 2008
My notes: This book is about Nell. She is a young girl in high school and throughout the year something changes about her dramatically. As the book progresses, she becomes anorexic. Her health, studies, and soon-to-be husband all kind of fall apart. In the process she also loses her long time friend because she won't accept his help and she ignores his reaching out.
I would probably teach this book to eighth graders because there are some serious issues, but it is better if they learn them earlier in life. I think that girls would probably like this book better than boys because they can relate to Nell's problems, not all her problems, but some like not being able to fit in anywhere. After reading the book, students will problem research some more on some of the issues, like anorexia and life on a farm.
I would probably teach this book to eighth graders because there are some serious issues, but it is better if they learn them earlier in life. I think that girls would probably like this book better than boys because they can relate to Nell's problems, not all her problems, but some like not being able to fit in anywhere. After reading the book, students will problem research some more on some of the issues, like anorexia and life on a farm.
May 2, 2007
I read this when I was in 6th or 7th grade and it was the first book I'd ever read that I wanted to physically destroy when I finished it. It made me feel physically ill by the end of the book. I felt like the only way to make the feeling go away would be to burn the book. Unfortunately that wasn't an option (my parents didn't think burning books in the fireplace was a good idea, i'm guessing) so I sold it to the used bookstore (not something I normally do) so that at least I would never have to see it again. Sadly, that means that some one else out there probably bought and read it, for which I apologize profusely. Such horror should not be passed on in this world. So if you have read this book, I'm very sorry. And if you haven't--DON'T.
June 12, 2010
SUCH a fascinating premise... and so disappointing.
I LOVED the idea of an anorexic girl in the 19th century, long before there was any way of diagnosing the disorder, and long before the rise of the distorted body image was so much a part of daily life. I wanted to like this book... but it fell flat for me.
I think the problem was the diary-entry style, which didn't really fit. Frankly, people going through such dark periods in their lives aren't avid journal keepers. (Srsly? Complete with her keeping her switching her journal to third person as her disorder progresses?) And then the tacked-on happy ending felt-- tacked on.
I think I learned a little about the disorder, though, and those little factoids were interesting.
I LOVED the idea of an anorexic girl in the 19th century, long before there was any way of diagnosing the disorder, and long before the rise of the distorted body image was so much a part of daily life. I wanted to like this book... but it fell flat for me.
I think the problem was the diary-entry style, which didn't really fit. Frankly, people going through such dark periods in their lives aren't avid journal keepers. (Srsly? Complete with her keeping her switching her journal to third person as her disorder progresses?) And then the tacked-on happy ending felt-- tacked on.
I think I learned a little about the disorder, though, and those little factoids were interesting.
July 14, 2007
Horrifying book. I love historical fiction but this was the first that I read that was mixed with mental illness and anorexia. It was so distrubing being in Nell's irrational mind but I couldn't put this book down. My mom recommended this to me. We each had different views on how this book ended. I guess it depends in the state of mind you're in while reading it. This would be a great book for parents of teens with anorexia to read...it scares the heck out of you to read this and see what they are thinking and how they justify the torture they put on themselves.
July 17, 2017
I read this before school one morning, way back in 8th grade. It was so dark I was physically ill and couldn't attend school that day. I remember getting up from the couch and walking that sucker straight to the trash can. I had anticipated reading it because it was two of my favorite things: historical fiction and quilting. Ugh. Instead I got anorexia & depression, not at all handled in an appropriate way for young people. I still don't have the courage to re-read it. The memory-impression of the black mood it left behind is still far too strong.
December 3, 2009
I found this book in a box from when I was a kid (we're not even close to being unpacked!). I forgot that I had read it already and so I re-read it. Now I am going to send it out in the recycling. I did not like it. I didn't like the dark mood and I didn't connect with any of the characters in the book. They were ALL very self-centered. Plus I didn't like the lack of resolution at the end. It was a very fast read, but not worth the time.
March 25, 2010
I loved this book when I was Jr Highish age. I don't really know why. Here's what I remember: she loves the next door neighbor boy, but for some reason she lets him go. She promises herself to a rich cousin, and then proceeds to lose her mind and control her food so strictly that she becomes dangerously anorexic. The best part of the book is that the whole time she's making a giant crazy quilt. I want that quilt with all of my soul.
September 27, 2010
This book is deceiving in that it's mostly about anorexia. I would have found it much more interesting if the psychological reasons behind why she started avoiding food would have been explored. I guess that's just left for the reader to infer. This is not a happy, feel-good read whatsoever. It reminded me of something I would read in a literature class. I know that some of the symbolism was just over my head.
August 25, 2009
My gosh. I thought this book was amazing to read but it was so sad. I couldn't figure out what happened in the end though. That part was confusing. Its a dark book and its not the kind of book that is suitable for all. I must admit I first picked it up cause I thought it was going to be about quilts. Had no idea it would go the way it did.
June 11, 2008
I read this book a long time ago, and have no desire to reread it because it freaked me out so badly. All I remember is that it was really disturbing, especially when Nell gives birth to her baby in the outhouse.
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July 27, 2014I read it in 7th grade. I have not forgotten this book but wish I could. In my opinion it is too dark for a child of 12. I keep thinking I should re-read it as an adult , I may see it in a different light.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews