Jennifer Chiaverini Books In Order
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Chronological Order of Elm Creek Quilts Books
Publication Order of Elm Creek Quilts Short Stories/Novellas
| The Quilter's Ghost | (2015) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| The Fabric Diary and The Runner's Quilt | (2016) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
| The Spymistress | (2013) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker | (2013) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Mrs. Lincoln's Rival | (2014) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Mrs. Grant and Madame Jule | (2015) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Christmas Bells | (2015) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Fates and Traitors | (2016) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Enchantress of Numbers | (2017) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Resistance Women | (2019) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Mrs. Lincoln's Sisters | (2020) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| The Women's March | (2021) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Switchboard Soldiers | (2022) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Canary Girls | (2023) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
| ELM Creek Quilts | (2002) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Return to Elm Creek | (2004) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| More Elm Creek Quilts | (2008) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Traditions from Elm Creek Quilts | (2011) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| An Elm Creek Quilts Companion | (2013) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Harriet's Journey from ELM Creek Quilts | (2020) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Jennifer Chiaverini is a historical fiction author bestselling New York Times author best known for the “Elm Creek Quilts” series in addition to several collections of quilt patterns that were inspired by her novels. Some of Chiaverini’s quilt designs have been featured in “Quilt,” “Country Woman,” “Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks Volumes 3-5,” while her short fiction has been featured in “Quilters Newsletter” and “Quiltmaker.” She went to the University of Chicago and the University of Notre Dame where she got her Masters in English and Literature. Three courses at the University of Chicago that included “Contemporary Historical Fiction,” “Nineteenth-Century Women Novelists,” and “British Gothic Fiction” helped her understand historical fiction and become interested in authorship. Her time in Chicago also informs her setting two of her novels in the windy city. Her debut novel was “The Quilter’s Apprentice,” which she published in 1999 that became the first of the “Elm Creek Quilts” series. The novels have been described as effective in capturing the texture of life for white and black, rich and poor women during the time periods in which they are set. She currently lives with her husband and two children in Madison, Wisconsin.
Chiaverini had always wanted to become a writer ever since she read “Tuck Everlasting” by Natalie Babbitt that had been recommended to her by her favorite children’s librarian. She was then a seven-year-old and she never forgot the timeless themes of mortality and family and how choices reveal who we are and determine our fates. She still loves to read and many times you can find her reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen which is her go-to for relaxation and comfort. However, Jennifer was a quilter before she became an author as she got into quilting when she was twenty-five. Just after she got married, she wanted to get a wedding quilt as an heirloom for the occasion but nobody in her family quilted. She was also working on becoming an author and teaching part-time and hence she did not have the money for the quilt. The only way to get that quilt was to make one herself and she just had to learn. When Chiaverini wrote her debut novel “The Quilter’s Apprentice” she wanted to showcase everything she loved about the folklore, artistry, and tradition of quilting but also capture the quilting community’s camaraderie and spirit. As a beginner quilter, she found that quilters were very welcoming to people interested in the craft. They were always willing to help beginners hone their skills by sharing their knowledge. The fact that it is a very positive, encouraging, and welcoming art form appealed to her and she knew she had to portray it in fiction.
A common thread in Jennifer Chiaverini’s novels whether historical or contemporary is the dynamic of the family. She writes of how the people we love the most can be the source of our deepest regret and insecurity, and also our greatest strength. One of the things she hopes readers get from reading the “Elm Creek Quilts” is a better knowledge of the tradition and history of quilting. They can also understand how it can be a creative outlet that draws one into a community of welcoming and talented quilters that encourage and offer support to each other. Jennifer also believes that through her novels, readers can discover that quilting can bring together people from a variety of religions, nationalities, generations and socioeconomic backgrounds and make them friends. While she was very successful with her “Elm Creek Quilts” series she decided to end it with “The Giving Quilt” in 2012. She went on to write several standalone historical fiction novels such as “Resistance Women” and “Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker.” According to a recent interview, Jennifer asserted that such historical fiction simply would not fit in the Elm Creek Quilts yet she had compelling stories and characters that she needed to write about. However, many fans clamored for the characters of Elm Creek and so she went back to writing the series with “The Christmas Boutique” getting published in 2019.
“The Quilter’s Apprentice” the first novel of the Elm Creek Quilts series by Jennifer Chiaverini tells the story of Sarah McClure. She just moved to Waterford, Pennsylvania, a small college town with her husband. She is struggling to find a job and as a stop-gap measure is helping Sylvia Compson, a seventy-five-year-old woman prepare Elm Creek Manor her family estate for sale. However, the cantankerous old woman has no money and only offers to pay using quilting lessons given that she is a master quilter. In the course of their lessons, they get to talking and the old lady reveals that her family was broken by betrayal, jealousy and tragedy. From the stories, Sarah is forced to deal with some uncomfortable truths about her own family since she has been estranged from her mother for years. As they grow even closer, Compson trusts her enough that she tells her the real reason she is disposing of her property. In turn, Sarah is determined to bring back joy and life to Elm Creek so that she can have her now cherished friend and ensure she has a home to live in. The novel teaches about creating patience, love and time and deep lessons on sisterhood, friendship and family from the jumbled to a gorgeous whole just like you would with a quilt.
Jennifer Chiaverini’s “Round Robin” welcomes back the Elm Creek Quilters that we loved so much in the debut novel. The quilters have set up a round-robin which is a quilt made by sewing concentric patchwork on one quilt on which all friends contribute. The lead of the robin is Sarah McClure that a few years ago had moved to Waterford. She had come up with the idea as she wanted to gift the quilt to Sylvia Compson a fellow quilter and one of her best friends. But just like their delicate cross stitches that can break at any time so are their lives hanging by the feeblest threads of contentment that could come untangled at any time. Each woman is facing a life-changing, personal crisis or painful truth and the robin is a symbol of the enduring and complex bonds between daughters and mothers, friends and sisters. In weaving together the disparate and harmonious pieces of the quilt-crazy lives the quilters come to the realization that there is nothing as precious as friendships. They also realize that love could really illuminate lives and result in better understanding and new beginnings.
“The Cross-Country Quilters” by Jennifer Chiaverini is the story of Vinnie, Julia, Grace, Megan, Grace, and Donna who are cross country friends that decide to run a challenge quilt. They divide a piece of cloth among themselves and agree to meet at Elm Creek Quilt Camp the following year to sew the several sections into one block. But there is a special rider – no one can work on their fabric until they have achieved their personal goals and solved their personal problems. While they have a common objective, the demands of everyday life are testing the limits of their friendship. Nonetheless, despite the differences in background, age and race, their affection for each other and love for quilting holds strong. The quilt they weave is a symbol of the threads holding their lives in a beautiful patchwork of loyalty and caring. This finally shows them that despite obstacles the strength of their bonds transcends any difficulties including great distance.
Book Series In Order » Authors »
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I love the Elm Creek series and I own most of the quilting books you have written! I started reading them after I lost my husband and quilted my way thru grief!
Thank you so much
I appreciate Jennifer writing so many books on the civil war. Many genres of people were affected differently from the war. I am thankful Jennifer took the time to research this and write about the different people and how it affected them. I learned so much from these books devoted to the civil war.
I hope Jennifer will be writing more Elm Creek Quilt Novels. I have most of her Elm Creek quilt book series and have read them over again. They helped getting me started on quilting. I just wished I had started sooner.
Although I am not a quilter, after reading several of your books I wish I had learned from one of my friends who is quite a gifted quilter. Thank you for providing a look into a goup of quilters and their bond.
I am really hoping there are more Elm Creek Quilts to come, there are still stories to tell!
I so far have read all of jennifer Chiaverini book’s and love them all. They are great waiting for the next one to come out. You are a great writer
I love Jennifer’s books. I just realized I am missing several will have to play catch-up.
I just started reading Resistance Women. I almost gave up on the book when I started on Chapter one and read that a ship was being met in the harbour of Bremen by a band dressed in Germany’s “national costume of lederhosen and dirndls”. I couldn’t believe such an egregious error can be made by a writer who wants to be taken seriously. in 1928 no northern German would have been seen in such an attire, the nation costume of Bavaria. While Hitler popularized this attire after coming into power, northern Germans even now see it as a joke, just as they make fun of the weak Bavarian beer and their tasteless Weisswurst, Knoedel etc. The writer seems to be unaware of German history and the fact that Germany didn’t become a nation until 1871, when its hundreds of small and larger states were united under the crown of Prussia, while Austria became a separate entity. When one writes historical novels, based on real events and characters more care should be taken. I’ve stuck to the book but there are other small bloopers.