Finalist, 2018 National Jewish Book Award Goldberg Prize for Debut Fiction
"With a backdrop as hyper-real as the Holocaust, strong characters are required, and Gaal delivers. The women of THE DREAM STITCHER are flawed—creatures of their time and circumstance—but they possess a strength that is both inspiring and beautiful."—IndieReader
"The author sews her varied themes, characters, and surprises into a seamless narrative that is essential reading for anyone who loves elegant writing."—Kirkus Reviews
"It is difficult to convey the full flavor of this great feast of a novel which is an intriguing blend of thriller, history, love, war, magic, deception, and tragedy all wrapped together in a neat package with an unexpected ending."—BookPleasures
Hard times are forcing Maude Fields to take in her estranged mother, Bea, whose secrets date to World War II. Bea arrives with a hand-embroidered recreation of La Tapisserie de la Reine Mathilde, the iconic 11th century Bayeux Tapestry. The replica contains clues to the identity of Maude's father and the mythical Dream Stitcher, Goldye, a Jewish freedom fighter who helped launch the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
With the help of her pregnant daughter Rosie, Maude is determined to unravel decades of family deception to learn the truth about her parentage.
With Poland on the brink of invasion by Nazi Germany, Goldye discovers—with the guidance of imaginary friend Queen Mathilda—that she can embroider dreams that come true. She becomes an apprentice at Kaminski Fine Fabrics, where she gains a reputation for creating wedding dresses for Aryan brides that bring their dreams to reality. She becomes known as the Dream Stitcher.
Goldye meets and falls in love with Lev, a freedom fighter who wants to unite Jews and Poles to fight the Germans. Goldye sews images to help him. And she creates a powerful symbol for the resistance of the common people: a stitched hummingbird that spreads hope.
Goldye leaves the ghetto to live with her sewing mentor, Jan Kaminski, who gains identity papers for Goldye as his Aryan niece. A Nazi commandant takes Jan and Goldye on a dangerous trip to France to decipher the symbols in The Bayeux Tapestry. The Nazis hope images in the Bayeux will reinforce Germany's right to world domination.
In California, Maude's quest for the truth leads to family she didn't know she had, and perhaps, love.
