JUNE 09 BOOK REVIEW of Gloria Waldron Hukle's third novel by J. Alpha -US Review of Books
Threads: An American Tapestry by Gloria Waldron Hukle is a story that delftly weaves together the struggles and triumphs of the differing visions and conflicts of the independent-minded characters of the New York Hudson Valley colonials, which comprised a mix of European, African, and Native American cultures, with the turmoil in the lives of three siblings-heirs to the estate of Gerrit Vandenberg, a wealthy New York North River Valley landowner.
However, as the central theme of Threads reveals, prosperity does not exclude life's struggles from the affluent, nor is it a shield against the lifelong prejudices and alienation Margaret Vandenberg had experienced as a "high-brow Indian woman"-Vandenberg's "half-breed" daughter, who in spite of her good intentions and acts of charity and generosity remains a slave to the suspicions, mistrust, and hatred of her mixed heritage and Old World enemies ...(full review at www.authorgloriawaldronhukle.com
Threads: An American Tapestry -Hukle's third installment in The Waldron Series-is a reflective tale told with an infusion of relevant historical facts that enhance both the action and pacing of the plot. Often in historical fiction, authors unintententionally lose their characters inside their story-like passages of exhaustive research, but Hukle has completely avoided this common pitfall, having rendered a strong piece of historical fiction for readers to be drawn into with her solid research, solid character renderings, and solid writing.