Carrie Schmidt's Reviews > The Liberty Scarf

“Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all”

I’ve long been a fan of Emily Dickinson’s poems. There’s something about her work that causes me to reflect on life. So I found it especially meaningful that the authors chose to use this particular verse as one of the threads which connects all three parts of The Liberty Scarf narrative. Hope‘s indelible influence on the stories being told here felt quite, well, poetic to me, and the poignant mood it left in its wake fit perfectly with the key lives that intersected across the novel. Iris and Rex. Genevieve and Maxime. Clara and Roman. If not for the Liberty scarf inspired by Dickinson’s poem, none of these couples would have met and certainly the six of them would have no connection to each other.

But thankfully the beauty of this novel is in its homage to the seemingly isolated moments – the turns and twists and choices – that we eventually realize were telling a much larger story of hope all along. A silly bet. A bold dream. A new assignment. A shopping trip. An illness. A kiss. I loved the banter between Iris and Rex, the easy connection between Genevieve and Maxime, the swoony chemistry between Clara and Roman. All three authors are so talented, and they easily had me invested in each of these characters as well as the history being lived out on the pages. Seeing different elements of World War I through the various characters helped the novel come that much more alive, and I especially enjoyed seeing how the arts were utilized as well. From fashion and design to music, art, architecture, and of course poetry, hope sings a beautiful tune through these creative elements, one that shines light into the darkness of war and lifts the heart. Not only for The Liberty Scarf’s characters, but for its readers as well.

Bottom Line: Three women connected unaware by a beautiful silk scarf from the famed Liberty of London, its design inspired by and perpetuating hope. One woman created the scarf. One woman received it as a gift. One woman owes it everything. Despite their differences in station, mission, and personality (from each other and from me), each character felt relatable and captured my heart as well as my attention. The Liberty Scarf is a novel told in three parts, yes, but its three authors – Aimie K. Runyan, J’nell Ciesielski, and Rachel McMillan – seamlessly turn it into a unified story that will have readers solidly invested from beginning to end. (Fair warning… the first two parts pause abruptly but keep reading and it will all come back around, I promise.) I loved the premise of this layered novel, the history I learned (or was reminded of), the vivid scene-setting, the epistolary elements, and of course the power of hope. Perfect for reading when you want to immerse yourself in a story while snuggled up in a warm blanket on a cold day.

Reviewer’s Note: Followers of my reviews may want to be aware that there is a very small instance of mild cursing in this novel.

(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book)

first reviewed at Reading Is My SuperPower