The idea came up over lunch between two old friends. There was a need for a book that, eschewing sensationalism and simplistic answers, would examine the holes in the fabric of women’s talk of the last thirty or forty years. The contributors, a cross-section of women, would be asked to explore defining moments in their lives rarely aired in common discourse: truths they had never shared, subjects they hadn’t written about before or otherwise found a place for. What Carol Shields and Marjorie Anderson wanted to hear about were the experiences that had brought unexpected pleasure or disappointment, that somehow had caught each woman unawares. The pieces, woven together, would be a tapestry of stories about what women experience but don’t talk about. The resulting book became an instant #1 bestseller.
“Our feeling was that women are so busy protecting themselves and other people that they still feel they have to keep quiet about some subjects,” Carol Shields explained in an interview. Dropped Threads takes as its model the kind of informal discussions women have every day – over coffee, over lunch, over work, over the Internet – and pushes them further, sometimes even into painful territory. Subjects include work, menopause, childbirth, a husband’s terminal illness, the loss of a child, getting old, the substance of women’s friendships, the power of sexual feelings, the power of power, and that nagging question, “How do I look?” Some of the experiences are instantly recognizable; others are bound to provoke debate or inspire readers to examine their own lives more closely.
The book is a collection of short, engaging pieces by more than thirty women, from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island. Many are mothers, some are grandmothers, and many are professionals, including journalists, professors, lawyers, musicians, a corporate events planner and a senator. Readers will find the personal revelations of some of their favourite authors here, such as Margaret Atwood, Bonnie Burnard, Sharon Butala, Joan Barfoot, Joan Clark and Katherine Govier. Other contributors include:
• Eleanor Wachtel, CBC radio host, talks about her early fears of speaking in public.
• June Callwood, journalist, social activist and a Companion of the Order of Canada, at the age of seventy-six is surprised at her failure to find answers to the imponderable dilemmas surrounding human life, and of her lack of connection to the “apparition” in the mirror.
• Isabel Huggan, short story writer, muses on what she considers the impossibility of mothers passing on knowledge to their daughters, and on her own feeling that “we are girls dressed up in ladies’ clothing, pretending.”
With writing that is reflective, often amusing, poignant, emotional and profound, Dropped Threads is the first book to tackle the lesser-discussed issues of middle age and is the first anthology the editors have compiled together.

Carol Shields, Marjorie May Anderson, Joan Barfoot, Lorna Crozier, Isabel Huggan, Anne Hart, Bonnie Burnard, Susan Lightstone, Marni Jackson, Joan Clark, Claudia Casper, Janet Bradley, Betty Jane Wylie, Rosalie Benoit Weaver, June Callwood, Jacqueline McLeod Rogers, Margaret Atwood, Charlotte Gray, Lily Redmond, Ilsa James, Deborah Schnitzer, Miriam Toews, Martha Brooks, Sharon Butala, Margaret Shaw-MacKinnon, Eleanor Wachtel, Helen Fogwell Porter, Renate A. Schulz, Katherine Govier, Carol Hussa Harvey, Katherine C. H. Gardiner, Sandy Frances Duncan, Katherine Martens, Sharon Carstairs, Blanche Howard, Anne Giardini, Nina Lee Colwill

Shields, Carol (editor); Anderson, Marjorie May (editor)

edited by Carol Shields and Marjorie Anderson

Shields, Carol; Anderson, Marjorie May, 1944-

Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers

Random House, Incorporated

Random House AudioBooks

Vintage Canada ed., Toronto, Ont, Ontario, 2001

United States, United States of America

Fourth Printing, 2001

The hidden emotional territory of women's lives--from the joys of belly dancing to the agony of caring for a dying child--is revealed in the pages of Dropped What We Aren't Told. Editors Carol Shields and Marjorie Anderson bring together 34 eclectic and engaging pieces by renowned authors (e.g. Margaret Atwood and Bonnie Burnard) as well as women whose day jobs include politics, child-raising, and cattle ranching. Marni Jackson's "Tuck Me In" is an entertaining account of conflicts with a teenage son who considers shampoo a culturally imposed artifact. Perhaps the most powerful essay is "Edited Version," in which Isla James describes her dying child's last days at home....

A collection of writings by Canadian women on "experiences that catch us by surprise, that haven't ever been part of our discussions or readings because they lie beyond the limit of words or the courage or will to articulate."

"A beautifully woven tapestry of perspectives on the silences that women still keep. Dropped Threads offers a community of voices that readers -- not just women -- will want to hear ..."--Page 4 of cover

2023-10-09