Threads: The Delicate Life of John Craske - Softcover

"Oh, what a miraculous book this is: parochial, weird and inconclusive in a way that few books dare to be these days, and illustrated so generously, with something beautiful or interesting on every other page. Buy it, and let it take you out to sea, no sou’wester required." (Rachel Cooke Observer)

"Wonderful... I lay down her book without knowing the cause of the “mental stupors” that defined Craske’s life, or understanding his relationship to his complicated family, but feeling I had inhaled the cold salt of the East Anglian coastline from which he sailed when he was well, and run my fingers across the bright wool of the embroideries he made when he was not." (Helen Brown, 5 stars Daily Telegraph)

"I believe I have already found my book of the year. Blackburn’s “biography”... almost defies the category... But it is so beautifully and hypnotically done that each page leaves you spellbound. Rarely can such an unusual telling so thoroughly, and so movingly, reflect the nature of the life being told." (Lesley McDowell Herald)

"I wish I could quote something from every page as that would convince you to read this book... This is a book to remind you that wonders lie scattered like jewels in the most ordinary places." (Rachel Campbell-Johnston The Times)

"It is hard to pin down what it is that makes Threads such a warmly attractive book... Julia Blackburn is an odd, sometimes even disconcerting writer, but she is an amazingly good one, too. The words she puts on paper do what written words should do: they make things real... She leaves her reader feeling grateful and happy." (Literary Review)

"A cleverly crafted book that is far more than the obvious sum of its parts... [A] truly delightful book." (Honor Clerk Spectator)

"[An] extraordinary book." (Chloe Colchester Oldie)

"A beautifully illustrated, wry, emphatic and deeply moving triumph." (Dan Brotzel Lady)

"A poignant meditation on creativity and grief." (Dan Brotzel Press)

"Subtle and absorbing book." (4 stars UK Press Syndication)

Julia Blackburn has written nine books of non-fiction, a family memoir, The Three of Us, which won the 2009 J.R. Ackerley Award, and two novels, The Book of Colour and The Leper’s Companions, both of which were shortlisted for the Orange Prize. She lives in Suffolk and Italy.