Early spring, 1909, and New York City was gasping over the shocking performances of the diva Mary Garden in the opera Salome. Ingrid Winthrop also performed... in the Manhattan Opera Company's chorus... and was exhausted after a lengthy season, but it was her turn to remain and help tidy up the costumes. Task completed, she walked towards the sound of her waiting grandmother's voice and was surprised to see a man sitting with Louisa Winthrop. Ingrid's life was about to change.
She was born Ingrid Winthrop and orphaned at age two.
Although she was raised by her grandmother, Louisa Winthrop, to be a proper society wife, the young woman had other ideas.
A Thousand Fibers is Ingrid's story: her education and musical career; her connection to the opera entrepreneur, Oscar Hammerstein; her eventual, and surprising, marriage; her lifelong friendship with the housekeeper; and the audacious decision Ingrid made which, if discovered, would be considered disreputable and degrading.
Late nineteenth century New York city's opera wars, the difficulties of European immigrants, Steinway Village in Astoria, New York, the growth of Chicago, the patriotism and nationalism of the World Wars, and a dozen additional people, places, and events blend in the real and fictional world of Ingrid Winthrop, her family, her acquaintances. Add a healthy dash of serendipity and chance and connection, and A Thousand Fibers proves to be a captivating, absorbing read.
Susan M. Szurek is not wholly convinced Fate is an actual contrivance, except between the covers of this novel.