Hello everyone, hope you are well and getting some time to read during this time! My name is Jaclyn and I am a Children's Librarian here at the Palm Harbor Library. Tracy Chevalier has been a favorite author of mine since I read one of her earlier works A Girl with A Pearl Earring. A Single Thread has been such an interesting read, and I am excited to hear what your thoughts are on the book!
Lets start with our first discussion question:
Violet is un wed and is often ostracized for this fact. Violet’s sister-in-law, is married, she is not without burdens herself: Evelyn is expected not to have a hair out of place at all times. When she becomes pregnant again, we see this “perfection” begin to wear at the seams. Do you think an undue burden was placed on married women at the time to maintain the “perfect” household? How about the expectations placed on married women and/or mothers now? Has the idea of a “perfect” home changed? Does the burden of creating it --- or the blame for failing to do so --- still rest on women?
I am a mom of a 1 year old and I have met this first hand. A lot of families need to have the mom working to afford the cost of living. Not to mention women having careers they are passionate about (as I am myself). However, I still have received judgement and comments about the fact that I am not staying home with my son, and that has fed into my own mom guilt. Though we have progressed in many ways since WWI and WWII, I do feel this stereotype of a women maintaining the perfect home is well and truly alive. Many of the same pressures Violet and Evelyn felt I feel right now!
Lets start with our first discussion question:
Violet is un wed and is often ostracized for this fact. Violet’s sister-in-law, is married, she is not without burdens herself: Evelyn is expected not to have a hair out of place at all times. When she becomes pregnant again, we see this “perfection” begin to wear at the seams. Do you think an undue burden was placed on married women at the time to maintain the “perfect” household? How about the expectations placed on married women and/or mothers now? Has the idea of a “perfect” home changed? Does the burden of creating it --- or the blame for failing to do so --- still rest on women?
I am a mom of a 1 year old and I have met this first hand. A lot of families need to have the mom working to afford the cost of living. Not to mention women having careers they are passionate about (as I am myself). However, I still have received judgement and comments about the fact that I am not staying home with my son, and that has fed into my own mom guilt. Though we have progressed in many ways since WWI and WWII, I do feel this stereotype of a women maintaining the perfect home is well and truly alive. Many of the same pressures Violet and Evelyn felt I feel right now!