"In the vein of Margaret Atwood and Ursula K. Le Guin”
CANREADS EDITORIAL REVIEW
What if a single mouthful of beer could transport you across both time and space, into a world where a fanatical religious group hunts down and burns women at the stake, simply for worshipping a different divinity?
In Annabel Youens’ Thread Traveller, protagonist August Monk has been trying to control the uncontrollable for as long as she can remember. Her family and the company she built are both falling apart, and she’s no longer sure she can repair either. So when August awakens in an alternate reality, naked in a field of mushrooms, she finds herself quickly drawn into the rhythms of the new community that now surrounds hers—one that entrusts her with its deepest secrets.
Thread Traveller will captivate fans of speculative fiction, magical realism, fantasy, and even contemporary fiction. A unique and highly readable novel, Youens’ prose is at its most compelling when she threads together elements of nature and human failure, creating a powerful and irresistible narrative as we see the strength August finds in this rare community in the face of persecution. Readers will laugh, sigh, and nod along in kindred recognition of the themes woven throughout, including shared female experiences, perimenopause, invisible labour and, yes, striking rage. In the vein of Margaret Atwood and Ursula K. Le Guin, at its heart, Thread Traveller is a gripping story of womanhood and chosen family, all which begs the question: Is blood strong enough to supersede all other bonds?
Youens’ worldbuilding is masterful as she guides readers into August’s complex new reality. Among its most memorable figures is Margaret, a magnetic midwife who helps August navigate this unfamiliar society. Their friendship is rendered with extraordinary nuance, one that depicts riveting tangles of a multitude of emotions—capturing insurmountable grief, fear of abandonment, and a fierce and unconditional devotion for each other, their community, and the world and reality that surrounds them. The relationship between August and Margaret forms the emotional core of the novel, a portrait of companionship as profound as it is complicated.
Thread Traveller artfully builds parallels between the two realities, while cleverly playing with themes of the interconnectedness of all living beings, rebirth, renewal, and the divine. In the face of global warming and mass deforestation, Youens’ exploration of the relationship between humans and nature feels timely and imperative, yet majestic too. Her ability to create mounting tension between Margaret and August’s beliefs, and what is known as The Church of the Divine Sphere, rises to an exceptional deafening crescendo, while the prose is precise, dazzles, and captures the perfectly bittersweet. Though the frequent use of italics to reveal August’s inner thoughts may draw attention to itself, it ultimately enriches the narrative, allowing readers to follow her shifting attachments across worlds. The result is a strong and rare narrative that is tragic and harrowing, yet undeniably hopeful.
Will August figure out where she belongs? And, integrally, will August choose to stay? With one foot in each world, August must decide not only where she fits—but what future she dares to claim. With Thread Traveller, Youens brings readers an impressive and distinctive debut that leaves a lasting impression.