SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY
When Bridget, an Irish immigrant, comes to America with her family, she is determined to help make end's meat. But she learns that there is a bias against Irish people. But soon Bridget O'malley is Bertie Miller and she has a new job, after being fired from her last. She is a seamstress for the wealthy Wellington family. But when she is promoted to help create new dresses, she finds she cannot do it without the help of a new friend. And then there is the charming Son of the Wellingtons, James, to complicate things.
OUR CAST OF CHARACTERS
Margaret “Bertie” Miller is the main character. She is a recent immigrant from Ireland come to America with her family. Since Bertie lost her mother, she often takes on the role of the mother, looking after her baby sister Eileen, and her younger brother.
Ray Stalls is the mysterious young man who always seems to show up when Bertie needs him. He is a tailor, and like Bertie, he will do anything to succeed in America.
James Wellington is the young son of J.P. Wellington. He is handsome and charming, but doesn't seem to be able to live up to his father's expectations.
Paddy aka “Rick Miller” is Bertie's father. He is good spirited, and grateful to have made it to America. He loves his children but can get into trouble because of his impetuous nature. Also, he gets Bertie into trouble too, by bragging about her. But in the end, he pushes her to be her best.
PACING
We start right off in America, and we meet Ray by the second chapter. We have some troubles with the police, and by chapter five Bertie gets her job with the Wellingtons. I understand the chapters before this were too establish the troubles that Irish immigrants had to go through. But perhaps it would have been better to spread this throughout the book, instead of at the beginning. Then maybe Bertie could have met James sooner and had a deeper relationship.
JAMES WELLINGTON-SPOILERS
The romance between James and Bertie is one of my main criticisms. She has only a few interactions with James before he proposes to her. I just found it rather unbelievable that this would happen, let alone that Bertie would be so naive as to jump at the chance. Things felt too rushed.
I wish they had inserted James into the story more, making him seem rather deceptive, but with a few cracks that the reader could spot. Yes, we note how he doesn't do good in school and we see him drunk. But these scenes of moral failings are just as short and shallow as the ones where he flirts with her. I would have preferred acts of great kindness and more than just little flirtations. There would have had to be a deception in order to be tricked. How many girls have been fooled into believing a man was kind and caring only to realize he was hiding behind a mask? But James has no mask. Bertie is just too dumb to see the truth.
RAY & BERTIE
Unlike James, Ray and Bertie have plenty of conversations where we get the feeling of romantic tension between them. It's quite obvious that Ray is fond of her, so when Bertie expresses surprise to her friend, I was actually annoyed. He flirted with her often, and yet she had no clue why he was helping her out? She just looked dumb. And she seems set on James for no other reason in that he is charming and cute. It's just too shallow for the reader to understand Bertie's confusion. Ray has gone out of his way, even saving her little sisters life by paying for a doctor. But James is cute and rich so...he would make a better husband?
RUMPILSTILTSKIN
I was curious how the fable of “Rumpelstiltskin” would be adapted into a modern story. After all, the story didn't seem to make much sense to modern audiences. Why did he constantly ask for the first born child of his victims? Although Ray Stalls is a tailor, and a skilled one who Bertie turns to in times of need, the “first born child” reference is just thrown in as offhandedly. Ray Jokes he wants her first born child. I suppose it would be near impossible to make this modern. But I would have liked to try, like, perhaps he constantly teased her about this, and in the end, demanded it, saying she simply had to marry him, or something. Nothing too serious.
BERTIE- SPOILERS
Bertie is likable enough. She loves her family and will do anything to provide for them. And it's clear that she loves America and the promises it makes. In a scene where her and Ray talk about their new country, she passionately defends it, endearing her to the reader. But the main problem comes with her naivete. Not just with Ray and James (noted above) but the climax (noted below). And by the time we get to Bertie forgiving James after he goes on a drunken rant about how he never loved her and she forgives him the next day, I gave up. Yes, she realizes how wrong she is soon after, but by then I was just waiting around, knowing what would happen.
CLIMAX-SPOILERS
When Bertie ends up back at the factory that the Wellingtons' own, there is a strike that the cops bust. People go crazy and stampede off, and Bertie gets separated from her sister and jailed. The idea of Eileen going missing wasn't a bad one. After all, Ray was at the strike and it would make sense to reunite them. But Bertie assuming that Ray has come to collect on the “first born child” (even though she is her sister, and not her daughter) was rather awkward. I was rather in disbelief that she would think this, and that Ray would think it was his job to take Eileen.
CONCLUSION
Bertie, Ray, and Paddy are all charming characters that I wish I could have learned more about, as Bertie is really the only character we get much information on. And the relationship between Ray and Bertie is sweet and charming. But the shallowness of James and his romance with Bertie hurts the story, as well as the awkward climax. And the naivete of Bertie is too much. I give “The Crimson Thread” three stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment