One Illumined Thread

I read One Illumined Thread in November 2022, not knowing I would be reviewing it, and now I find my brain searching for detail, worrying all I have is the essence of this enthralling book. So, join me in this quest to remember.

Inspired by a painting in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, The Visitation, Sally Colin-James tells of three women whose creativity is spurred on by tragedy and powerlessness. Their stories are historically connected by creativity and a need to fill the void.

It begins in Hebron 41BC at the time of King Herod’s brutal and murderous reign. A young woman with the shame of ‘her’ infertility turns to glassblowing as a means of escape and eventually becomes a successful craftswoman.

In Renaissance Florence, a girl escapes from her harsh parents and life in their taverna to a church where hangs a painting of Mary and Elisheva, one the mother of Jesus, the other of John the Baptist. She is captivated by it and one day becomes betrothed to the artist, a contemporary of Michelangelo. After a terrible incident, she begins to explore ways to make a white paint for artists that is so translucent it signifies purity and divine light.

In Adelaide 2018, a textile conservator is working on a 400-hundred-year-old embroidery based on The Visitation. Living a solitary life, and as an escape from a trauma, she immerses herself in the stories of the two women at the centre of the embroidery.

One Illumined Thread enveloped me in the richness of the stories and the recreation of times and places, particularly those set in Ancient Judea. Colin-James seamlessly weaves the connecting narratives of these strong women who endure the ignominy of a male-dominated world.