Stitching a Life: An Immigration Story

Family history has become a popular source for historical fiction. Stitching a Life is a good example of this. I liked this book for so many reasons. The main character, Helen, was very believable and you couldn’t help but root for her. It was an enjoyable and feel-good read. Though it is marketed as a young adult novel, I do wonder if there is enough drama and tension for most teen readers these days. My bet is mature women are even more likely to appreciate the heartwarming narrative style. I particularly loved the ending when Helen confronts an unfriendly coworker. Best of all for me was the epilogue where the author tells what happened to the family after the novel ends. It is truly inspiring!

Having heard of the book through the Tenement Museum podcasts, as a student of early 20th-century immigration experiences from women’s perspectives, this seemed promising.Quite honestly, I was not able to complete more than a handful of chapters. The writing was simplistic and lacked the detail required to visualize the characters actions or motives. The same statements were repeated over and over yet there was no need for emphasis. An example being how many times the main character mentions she will miss the young man from her Russian village. There’s no depth or exploration of the emotion.I felt I was reading the work of a young woman in her mid-teenage years. It is to that age group I would gladly recommend the book. It supplies some historical perspectives of the immigrant transition from their country of origin to the United States and it’s simply relayed without much need of background information to support the story.The best way to learn to write, for those not in possession of natural talent, is to read. The author may improve through immersion in the works of others.It may be that the book was written with a very young reader in mind. I just did not find that referenced anywhere.

Written geared toward a Young Adult audience, but as an adult, I very much enjoyed the story. It is a somewhat fictionalized version of a true story. Historical fiction is my favorite genre, and this definitely fit the bill.The characters were real and endearing, and I enjoyed reading about their lives - the good times and the bad. I appreciated the epilogue so I knew how their lives turned out decades later, following the end of the story.Thank you, Ms. Mary Helen Fein, for sharing your grandma's life with us. She was worthy of a book telling her story, and I'm sure she would be very proud of you and your accomplishment in doing that - and doing it so well.

In our 2021 era of so much hatred against immigrants and many others, this story is a blessed relief, a journey of courage and family devotion, taken to save the young sons from forced conscription at the age of 12 into the Russian Army around the year 1900. Even though intended for young adults, readers of all ages can relate to the vivid settings and characters, striving to make a new life for themselves in America, and succeeding! The Preface alone is fascinating in outlining the historical context of the decades between 1880 and 1920 with their waves of immigrants "yearning to breathe free." A work of brilliant blending of memoir and fiction. Highly recommended.

This book means a lot to me in that my own grandparents came over from Russia at the same time as this book starts. I was not raised by them or my biological father who were Jews. My mother's family raised me as a Catholic in California and did not know anything about my father until I was 21. This book touched me deeply.

The author brought Linde/Helen to life so masterfully that I feel like I knew her. Even at this long reach I am inspired by her courage and discipline, her openness to new experience.The history of persecution that Helen escaped is no longer known to many more than 100 years later and it's important that young people are aware to prevent it here.

You will quickly fall in love with Helen as she saves her brother from the Russian army, braves the hardship of an ocean crossing to America and saves her money diligently to rescue the rest of her family. You will also fall in love with the New York city of the early 1900s. Fein's descriptions of the city bring it to life as it becomes a major character in Helen's life.

Lithuanian immigrant in 1906. I could not put this book down. I saw this as a possible depiction of what his life was like. He too left to avoid being taken into the Russian army but he only came here with his brother. I loved the story of Helen and her famiky !