Stitches & Stories is a collaboration between Jo from The Bobbin Sisters (Backfold, Hay-on-Wye) and Jules at North Books. We thought a book group of crafters who sit and discuss books while they work alongside each other would be rather fun. Jo takes the credit for coming up with the textile-themed books.
The group meets on the third Thursday of every alternate month from 4pm to 6pm, and refreshments will be included.
Bring a stitching project with you and don’t forget to read the book in advance! See below.
JOIN THE CLUB
The book club meetings are seated events, so places are limited, and events can get pretty full. Please email Jules on jules@northbooks.co.uk or pop into The Bobbins Sisters (currently on winter opening) to add your name to the list. Participation is free if the book is purchased in advance from North Books at a 10% discount.
At North Books, 4 Castle Street, Hay-on-Wye on Thursday 15 August, 4–6pm.
THE BOOK
Embroidering Her Truth by Clare Hunter is the fourth book on S&S’s 24 reading list
The fourth novel of 2024 up for discussion on Thursday 15 August is Embroidering Her Truth by Clare Hunter. This book is available from North Books now.
At her execution Mary, Queen of Scots wore red. Widely known as the colour of strength and passion, it was in fact worn by Mary as the Catholic symbol of martyrdom.
In sixteenth-century Europe women's voices were suppressed and silenced. Even for a queen like Mary, her prime duty was to bear sons. In an age when textiles expressed power, Mary exploited them to emphasise her female agency. From her lavishly embroidered gowns as the prospective wife of the French Dauphin to the fashion dolls she used to encourage a Marian style at the Scottish court and the subversive messages she embroidered in captivity for her supporters, Mary used textiles to advance her political agenda, affirm her royal lineage and tell her own story.
In this eloquent cultural biography, Clare Hunter exquisitely blends history, politics and memoir to tell the story of a queen in her own voice.