What if you could settle down with a novel so full of history and place that when you finished it, after several good crying spells and some laughter, you began to think it had to have actually happened just that way to real people? That is the impact of Becky Mushko's first novel, winner of the Smith Mountain Arts Council Fiction Award. Patches on the Same Quilt takes you deep into the lives of six generations of one Franklin County, VA family. An extra bonus for horse lovers is that six generations of horses also are major players in this moving piece of fiction.

The chapter headings give you a fine idea of what awaits you [I devoured the book in one sitting, anxious to find out where it all led]: Early May, 1865; Last Wish; My Kingdom For a Horse; Sometimes You Gotta Up An' Go; The Farmer Takes a Wife; Confession Good For the Soul; Wishing You All The Best; Forced Blossoms; Lay My Comfort Down; When In Rome; Taking Up The Reins; One Tiny Speck Of Truth; Times Are Changin'; Last Memory; Play 'Moat's Ark' For Me; Full Circle. From Penhook to Rocky Mount, Richmond, Danville, and beyond, this multi-generational tale takes you into the private worlds and culture of people who know courage, compassion, grief, and beauty.

Stitched together, like patches in a quilt, each story, each narrator, carries on the overall design: the life of a family who has known loss, love, and hope.

The characters are memorable. The landscape is unforgettable. The Virginia each generation knows will become a part of your own life. Climb into the saddle and roam the landscape of this novel. Hear the train whistles. Hear the rustle of the long dresses, the whisper of the wind in a cemetery, the call of a sad child, the laughter of a contented old man. 

This is our best-selling novel at The Blue Lady Bookshop. Natives of the area are intrigued by the realism. Newcomers can discover both the history and the dignity of this special place, where a piano tune and a horse's whinny can bring you to tears.