Book Summary and Reviews of The Red Thread by Ann Hood

The Red Thread by Ann Hood

The Red Thread

A Novel

by Ann Hood

  • Critics' Consensus (0):
  • Readers' Rating (4):
  • Published:
  • May 2010, 304 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

“In China there is a belief that people who are destined to be together are connected by an invisible red thread. Who is at the end of your red thread?”

After losing her infant daughter in a freak accident, Maya Lange opens The Red Thread, an adoption agency that specializes in placing baby girls from China with American families. Maya finds some comfort in her work, until a group of six couples share their personal stories of their desire for a child. Their painful and courageous journey toward adoption forces her to confront the lost daughter of her past. Brilliantly braiding together the stories of Chinese birth mothers who give up their daughters, Ann Hood writes a moving and beautifully told novel of fate and the red thread that binds these characters’ lives.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Hood's sensitive depiction of her characters' hopes and fears makes for a moving story of dedication, forgiveness, and love." - Publishers Weekly

"[P]art soap opera, part enlightening look at contemporary adoptions, and an altogether entertaining read." - Donna Seaman, Booklist

"Hood offers a thoughtful novel about the yearning for a child that's primed to be a book club pick." - Library Journal

"The raw and riveting Chinese stories siphon narrative juice from the more conventional American angst that dominates the novel." - Kirkus Reviews

This information about The Red Thread was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

Louise J

Awesome Read!
The Red Thread contained a lot of characters which sometimes can become confusing, but Ms. Hood laid the story out so well that the characters were easy to keep separated in your mind.

The story is about several families who want to adopt Chinese babies with the help of ‘The Red Thread Adoption Agency’. There were so many heart-tugging moments and Ms. Hood included part of her own life. Unfortunately, she lost her own five-year-old daughter, Grace.

All of the couples involved were unable to conceive except one. She previously had a biological child born with Fragile X syndrome and didn’t want to chance birthing a second child with Fragile X.

The deep desire in these couple’s hearts is a thread that connects too many people. This book was an awesome read!

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Author Information

Ann Hood Author Biography

Photo: Beowulf Sheehan

Ann Hood is the author of a dozen books of memoir and fiction, including the best-selling novels The Book That Matters Most and The Knitting Circle, and editor of the anthologies Knitting Yarns and Knitting Pearls. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island, and New York.

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