Stories that Blend Past and Present

With the continuing hot weather I have found myself doing a lot of reading.  I want to share an author I found who weaves stories joining the past and present, usually involving a certain item that provides the common thread.  Her name is Susan Meissner.  

I especially want to share her work because so many of you love vintage items like I do and I think her writings may appeal to you.    

I love to think about the history and the story behind treasures I find at estate sales and antique stores.  I am fascinated that someone else in some other time and place possessed the item and wonder what stories it could tell -- what has it "seen"?   What events has it witnessed?   Whose hands have held my "new to me" piece of history?

Susan Meissner's writings bring this thought to life.  Her books tend to blend present day situations with the past in a beautiful way. 

The one I started last night is "Lady In Waiting".  The item that "travels" through time periods is a small ring engraved on the inside with a mysterious inscription and the name - Jane... Below is the description from Amazon.



https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003E8AIZ2/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1


Description:
Content in her comfortable marriage of twenty-two years, Jane Lindsay had never expected to watch her husband,  Brad, pack his belongings and walk out the door of their Manhattan home. But when it happens, she feels powerless to stop him and the course of events that follow Brad’s departure.

Jane finds an old ring in a box of relics from a British jumble sale and discovers a Latin inscription in the band along with just one recognizable word: Jane. Feeling an instant connection to the mysterious ring bearing her namesake, Jane begins a journey to learn more about the ring—and perhaps about herself.

In the sixteenth-century, Lucy Day becomes the dressmaker to Lady Jane Grey, an innocent young woman whose fate seems to be controlled by a dangerous political and religious climate, one threatening to deny her true love and pursuit of her own interests.

As the stories of both Janes dovetail through the journey of one ring, it becomes clear that each woman has far more infl uence over her life than she once imagined. It all comes down to the choices each makes despite the realities they face.

Review:

Praise for Lady in Waiting“Lady in Waiting is sheer beauty set in two time periods, both equally captivating stories. Meissner writes characters I care for, root for, and pine alongside—and she does so while weaving enticing, heart-wrenching plots. This book proves why I’m an ardent Susan Meissner fan.”—Mary DeMuth, author of Life in Defiance

“Lady in Waiting by Susan Meissner: The pacing, perfection. Transitions between centuries, seamless. Capturing the nuances of relationship, flawless. Put anything written by Susan Meissner on your “must read now!” list, right beside Barbara Kingsolver and Elizabeth Berg. I couldn’t put this elegant novel of love and choice down. A completely satisfying read.” -Jane Kirkpatrick, award-winning author of A Flickering Light and An Absence So Great

The first book I read by Meissner was through my bookclub and is entitled "A Fall of Marigolds" and my club considers it one of the best books we have ever read.  This time, the treasured item is a beautiful scarf.  This is the book that turned me on to this author.  Here is the description from Amazon:




A beautiful scarf, passed down through the generations, connects two women who learn that the weight of the world is made bearable by the love we give away....

September 1911. On Ellis Island in New York Harbor, nurse Clara Wood cannot face returning to Manhattan, where the man she loved fell to his death in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Then, while caring for a fevered immigrant whose own loss mirrors hers, she becomes intrigued by a name embroidered onto the scarf he carries…and finds herself caught in a dilemma that compels her to confront the truth about the assumptions she’s made. Will what she learns devastate her or free her? 

September 2011. On Manhattan’s Upper West Side, widow Taryn Michaels has convinced herself that she is living fully, working in a charming specialty fabric store and raising her daughter alone. Then a long-lost photograph appears in a national magazine, and she is forced to relive the terrible day her husband died in the collapse of the World Trade Towers…the same day a stranger reached out and saved her. Will a chance reconnection and a century-old scarf open Taryn’s eyes to the larger forces at work in her life?

Review:
“Like the golden threads of a scarf sprinkled with marigolds, Susan Meissner weaves two unspeakable New York tragedies—the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and 9/11—into a shimmering novel of love and acceptance. Meissner’s heroines, Clara and Taryn, live a century apart, but their stories are connected not just by a bright scrap of fabric but by love lost.  A compelling novel, A Fall of Marigolds turns fate into a triumph of spirit.”—Sandra Dallas, New York Times bestselling author of True Sisters 

Because she is a prolific writer - she has her own page on Amazon - AND her books are available through the public library - I will be reading as many as I can get my hands on.  

Her storytelling has captivated me and satisfies my passion for the common threads that run through all of our lives and the generations.  It appeals to the sentimental side of me that prefers vintage treasures with a history to new things that have not developed the patina of life, love and experience.

Have you heard of this author?  When you find an author that you love, do you read as many of their books as you can?  Do you wonder about the stories the treasures you find could tell?  


-Lyn


Once again - I get that weird white background when I cut and paste.  One of these days I will figure that out.  :)