The Golden Thread

A note to US-based customers: All Lit Up is pausing print orders to the USA until further notice. Read more

Nominated for the 1990 Governor General’s Award, The Golden Thread is a collection of linked stories that introduce readers to the memorable Sister Claire Delaney.

AUTHOR

Ann Copeland

Ann Copeland, a native of Connecticut, lived in Sackville, New Brunswick, for twenty-five years before moving to Salem, Oregon, in 1996. A popular fiction writing instructor at workshops in Canada, the US, and New Zealand, she is the author of The ABCs of Writing Fiction and six books of stories. The Golden Thread, linked stories about Sister Claire Delaney, was a finalist for a 1990 Governor General’s Award; “Another Christmas,” first published in the Fiddlehead, is part of Strange Bodies on a Stranger Shore, the sequel to The Golden Thread.

Reviews

The Golden Thread introduces Claire Delaney, an ambitious, idealistic and highly rational young woman called to be a nun. In these eleven stories, readers hear the joy of praise, feel the itch of stockings and habit, taste the gall of obedience, and, finally, share the pain and delight when Claire renounces her vows and embraces the secular life.
“A triumph … [Copeland] makes of convent life a vital and moving adventure.”
– Boston Globe

“Two visions, secular and religious, carry their own weight … A dazzling and difficult balancing act.”
– Toronto Star

“[Copeland’s] writing is both beautiful and intelligent.”
– New York Times Book Review