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The Unraveling Thread by Priscilla Cogan

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• This story is the first time that the relatively common, but severely under-diagnosed chromosomal disorder, Velo-Cardio-Facial Syndrome, has ever appeared in fiction.
   
• As typical of Dr. Cogan’s previous novels, the clash of the Anglo and Native American cultures casts a different light on the issues facing many American families.
   
• The story of a career woman, caught in the sandwich generation, taking care of both her parent and her children, is one that will resonate with many readers, as will the story of a family overwhelmed with medical problems.  It is the kind of page-turning novel which will tug on the reader’s heart.  Divorced Harriet McWhinnie returns home from her high finance job to discover that the newest Agency person has fled the house, leaving Harriet's young son in the care of her demented (and naked) mother, her teenage adolescent twins (one psychotic, one not) screaming at each other, and a dog that's bonkers.  Desperate, she hires Agatha, a middle-aged Native American woman, with a mysterious past and a commanding presence.  Such are the tangled threads Cogan weaves in The Unraveling Thread, illustrating both the family ties that bind and the family binds that tie us all to Home.

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Priscilla Cogan explores 'sandwich generation,' rare disorder in 'Unraveling Thread'

by Yirssi Bergman | The Grand Rapids Press

Sunday January 18, 2009, 6:26 AM

In The Unraveling Thread (Two Canoe Press, 251 pages, $26.95) Priscilla Cogan weaves the complex, problem-laden stories of the McWhinnie family into a beautiful, compelling novel.

Harriet McWhinnie's career was sailing, with a new position that carried a six-figure salary. Yet at home, things were falling apart.

Coming home to announce the good news, Harriet finds Opal, her intelligent and independent mother, naked and holding the hand of her 5-year-old son, Justin. Opal is losing a battle against dementia.

Upstairs, Luna and Sola, Harriet's twin daughters, are yelling at each other. Luna is your average self-centered teenager, but Sola suffers from an array of physical and mental disabilities that no one can correctly diagnose, let alone cure.

There is also Digger, the family's Shetland sheepdog, which is uncontrollable. Amid all of this, the last caregiver quit unexpectedly.

Harriet, desperate to find someone new before her job begins, hires an American Indian woman, Agatha Stands. Agatha is mysterious, comes with no references and wants to be paid cash. But she is ready to begin work immediately.

Although in The Unraveling Thread the characters deal with problems that at times seem insurmountable, the book is very easy to read. The characters are at once interesting and relatable, and the book is peppered with humor. As Cogan said, "If you don't laugh, life might get much too heavy."

Cogan, who lives in Massachusetts in the winter and on the Leelanau Peninsula in the summer, said she wanted to write a book about women caught in the "sandwich generation."

"Women are caught between taking care of parents, and taking care of children," Cogan said.

But her No. 1 reason to write about the McWhinnie family was because Velo-cardio-facial syndrome (VCFS), the disease that we learn plagues Sola, has never been depicted in fiction. The syndrome varies but often involves a cleft palate, heart defects and learning problems.

"I wanted to educate the public about it," Cogan said.

Cogan's history with VCFS is personal; her 43-year-old niece was diagnosed with it when she was 32.

Through the novel, and thanks to Agatha's strength, the characters grow and become stronger. Although not all problems have solutions, the characters learn to accept what they can't change and grow to love each other more as a family.

This is Cogan's fifth novel. Her first novel, Winona's Web, won the Small Press Book Award.

E-mail the author of this story: yourlife@grpress.com

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"As a reader I loved the clever plot; as a writer I reveled in the music of the words (I walk in soft moccasins. I know where I put my feet.); as a Christian, I could identify with each character's battle for faith - in themselves and in something beyond themselves. Best of all, Priscilla Cogan wraps the story around life's most important truth: it’s all about love.”

Sue Harrison,  author of Mother Earth Father Sky

I read with great pleasure The Unraveling Thread. Once started I had trouble putting it down and even now I wonder what is happening in the McWinnie household and I want to hear more of Agatha’s story. This book crackles with the familiar challenges of women’s lives; their complexity and poignancy. Powerful word images evoke characters replete with humor, courage and affection. And Agatha carries the transforming archetype of the wise woman, the mature Persephone, that is so desperately needed by women today.”

Jennifer Barker,  author of The Goddess Within

The Unraveling Thread is the heartwarming story of independent, loveable, and generous characters whose individual threads weave a rich family tapestry.

Written almost totally in dialog, the story reads like the script for an HBO series. In her many novels Priscilla Cogan has expertly woven Native American beliefs into modern western culture with understanding and compassion, a job for which she is justly qualified-PhD clinical psychologist and pipe carrier-someone who knows fully the way of the pipe.

Evelyn Wolfson,  author of From the Earth to Beyond the Sky

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