The Girl on the Wall

I came across The Girl on the Wall by Jean Baggott mentioned elsewhere on the Internet and just had to buy a copy. The author decided in her 60s that having spent her life doing things for others she was going to spend some time fulfilling her own ambitions. She then enrolled on a university course and designed and stitched an embroidery recording her life in little pictures. But it wasn't just her life she recorded but historical events - the moon landings - and life with rationing during the war and after. The title of the book refers to a photograph of the author at the age of 11 which she had converted into a chart so that she could embroider it.

Her promise to do things she wanted to do was made to the girl on the wall. The book refers to the embroidery as a tapestry but it is actually done on linen with cross stitch and other types of straight stitch. I used to do a lot of cross stitch so I was intrigued by the idea. The book is beautifully produced with a short chapter devoted to each circle on the embroidery. There is a fold out reproduction of the embroidery at the back of the book.

This is autobiography of an ordinary individual and every day life but at the same time it is the story of an extraordinary lady and her extraordinary achievement. This is one book which I shall not be selling when I have read it.

See more about the author and the book at http://www.thegirlonthewall.com/