Devil’s Darning Needle

Linda Holeman’s characters are instantly familiar. Or are they? In the nine stories which comprise Devil’s Darning Needle, we meet people – seemingly ordinary – struggling to go forward. The reader is taken from early memories of sex and death through the rise and fall of hope and despair, betrayal and redemption.

Meet Willow, who holds a mysterious and suffocating spell over a woman who innocently befriends her; the powerful Birdie, who, despite her lowly position, becomes a saviour; Seamus, carrying all his anguish and faith in a cookie tin.

These are but a few of Holeman’s memorable characters, all guarding the secrets of their hearts. With their finely-tuned moments of memory and truth, their pivotal and often icy flashes of clarity, these characters will continue to haunt the reader long after the book has been set down.

Linda reading from Devil’s Darning Needle
Imperial Library Pub
Toronto, Ontario
May, 1999

Reviews

“This new collection of nine short stories…is certain to garner her praise and admiration from every writer across the country. Each one of this collection’s poignant, finely crafted stories, which in character and setting are often reminiscent of the works of Alice Munro … startles with some surprise … these are stories that will linger long after the final page has been read.”
– Winnipeg Free Press

“Holeman’s characters in stories…spark an instant familiarity that pulls readers in to the tale.”
– Winnipeg Sun

“The characters and their situations are drawn with sensitivity and compassion … this makes for stories that are well wrought and empathetic.”
– The Toronto Star