SuitabookA Stitch in Time
Penelope Lively
- Reading
- If the reader is sensitive to uncertainty, mention beforehand that the mystery includes thoughts about death, a landslide and an animal’s death. Afterwards, discuss what Maria learns rather than focusing only on solving the mystery.
- Themes
- Change and growing up: Maria learns that Harriet did not die young but grew up and changed, prompting Maria to recognise that she will change too. The book presents change as an unavoidable part of life and connects understanding another person’s history with imagining one’s own future.
- The past and uncertainty: Maria studies a girl in an old photograph and feels that time has erased things, while trying to discover what happened to Harriet. The story treats the past as something that can remain puzzling but may become more understandable through attention and discovery.
- Worth knowing
- The story includes an unsettling sense that Harriet may have died young, later corrected by the discovery that she grew up. A landslide and a dog’s death are also part of the revealed history.