Jennifer Chiaverini

Sometimes the most ordinary things are the ones we learn to miss the most.

— Jennifer Chiaverini

“May the New Year be as full of happiness and peace and friendship.”

— Jennifer Chiaverini

“vivid descriptions of the grim sights and sounds and smells”

— Jennifer Chiaverini

Deception by an omission of the truth is as bad as a lie.

— Jennifer Chiaverini

Ignorant people, whispering cruel rumors, her mother whispered. Pay them no mind.

— Jennifer Chiaverini

One can never had too many librarian friends.

— Jennifer Chiaverini

“Mr Lincoln suggested that the Lord sent us this terrible war as punishment for the offense of slavery and that the war…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

Two quilters who have just met will be strangers only until their mutual passion for quilting is revealed. Then they can talk…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

For as long as I can remember, I've always been interested in issues of social justice, political freedom, and civil rights.

— Jennifer Chiaverini

Kate Forsyth’s Bitter Greens is an enthralling concoction of history and magic, an absorbing, richly detailed, and heart-wrenching reimagining of a timeless…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

“And of course you believed their wise counsel," said Elizabeth lightly, "because people who have never met me are always the best…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

“She would almost prefer to fold her arms and sink into an eternal slumber, so that the great longing of her soul…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

“On Christmas Day, the promise of peace offered a soft and shining light in dark times, an eternal flame that warfare could…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

People need stories...we use stories to teach, to learn, to make sense of the world around us. As long as we need…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

What I would give, I thought, to have been present as Elizabeth Keckley measured Mary Lincoln for a new gown, to overhear…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

Marvelously entertaining, Gabrielle Donnellys The Little Women Letters evokes the spirit of Louisa May Alcotts Little Women with warmth and affection. I…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

“Who said you had to fill his shoes?" said Karen. "Wear your own shoes. They're bound to fit better. Walk your own…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

When I was working on my first novel, 'The Quilter's Apprentice,' I knew I wanted to write about friendship, especially women's friendship…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

“Life and Letters (New York: Knopf, 1972); and John E. Washington, They Knew Lincoln (New York: Dutton, 1942). Of course, no work…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

I was very fortunate that my first novel captivated the imaginations of so many readers who asked for a sequel. After that,…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

Beginning writers are often advised to 'write what you know,' and since I knew about quilters - their quirks, their inside jokes,…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

“All people—white and colored, slave and free, Union and Confederate—shared a common humanity belied by their outward differences. In a time of…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

“Then it occurred to her (Elizabeth Keckley) that if Tad (Lincoln’s son) had been a colored boy rather than the son of…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

“Jean H. Baker, Mary Todd Lincoln: A Biography (New York: Norton, 1987); Joan E. Cashin, First Lady of the Confederacy: Varina Davis’s…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

I've always wanted to be a writer. Ever since I learned to read, I've wanted to share stories with others the way…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

“Her greatest legacy could not be measured in garments or in words, but in the wisdom she had imparted, in the lives…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

“But Sarah, my dear, don’t wish for excitement. Interesting doesn’t always mean good. Sometimes the most ordinary things are the ones we…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

Over the years, I've traveled to many places for inspiration and research, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, South Carolina, California, and Hawaii.

— Jennifer Chiaverini

Who said you had to fill his shoes? Wear your own shoes. They're bound to fit better. Walk your own path your…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

“brothers and I finished digging the grave he had already begun, and we buried him in the company of Mr. Orrick’s wife…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

Anyone who works on a quilt, who devotes her time, energy, creativity, and passion to that art, learns to value the work…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

“Paul had often told her that humanity’s most precious commodity was time—“Not love,” he had emphasized, “not because it’s less important, but…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

Anna, falling in love with you was like coming home to a place I didn't realize I'd been missing all my life.…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

Mary Lincoln provided Elizabeth Keckley with opportunities for social and economic advancement she probably had never imagined during her years as a…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

I wanted to write about women and their work, and about valuing the work we, as women, choose to do. Too many…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

In my contemporary stories, I write about today's quilters, inventive techniques they use, and how technology has influenced their art. Novels set…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

'What I would give,' I thought, 'to have been present as Elizabeth Keckley measured Mary Lincoln for a new gown, to overhear…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

Elizabeth Keckley was a woman of remarkable strength, courage, perseverance, and dignity. She was exceptionally talented, but also very diligent and ambitious,…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

“It’s painful to be the one not chosen,” she murmured to Father Ryan, watching the younger pair. “Even when you acknowledge, deep…

— Jennifer Chiaverini

“The union of their shared lives could be a masterpiece, even if the colors of one piece clashed with another, even if…

— Jennifer Chiaverini