"In A Thread So Fine, Susan Welch has written a beautiful story of sisters, history and love. The Malone sisters remind us a of a time – not so long ago – when a woman’s autonomy and self-realization often came at a price. Shannon and Eliza grabbed hold of my heart and carried it with them until the final, satisfying pages."

"Two sisters, two secrets and two lives forever altered, uncovering unhealed wounds: this is the major theme of A Thread So Fine.  A Thread So Fine is a psychologically acute family story about the interwoven bond between two sisters, Eliza and Shannon, weaving an invisible thread running through their lives from 1946-1965.  In "A Thread So Fine" the complexity, darkness and opacity of a family emerges. She wondered what her mother meant when she'd said she'd once let go.   She [Eliza) thought of her own letting go--of the horrible truth she could never allow herself to fully recall, a well-guarded secret kept from everyone.  Everyone, and most importantly, from her carefully groomed and future self. Heart-broken and scarred, both Eliza and Shannon discover the true meaning of family and sisterhood in a backdrop of ghosts:  men returning from the Second World War, parents and their own backstories their children are unaware of, sibling rivalry, religion, and unintended consequences.  In this page-turner the reader sees not only what goes on around the characters and to them, but what goes on inside them. In A Thread So Fine the reader will live through the well-constructed story along with Eliza and Shannon!  This gripping first novel announces the arrival of a strong, distinct and fully evolved new voice."

“The intense love shared by two sisters is challenged by crises in Welch’s debut novel, set in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Ithaca, New York, during the mid-20th century... In skillful, straightforward prose, Welch sets her character-driven narrative against the backdrop of postwar societal changes. Along the way, she implicitly contrasts the more traditional St. Paul society with the nascent progressive movements in Ithaca. The addictive melodrama weaves a tale of secrets, misunderstandings, resentments, and squandered opportunities for reconciliation that keep the sisters apart for almost two decades. Shannon, the more creative of the two siblings, is a more fully drawn character than Eliza, and readers get to know her more intimately through her unmailed letters. A strangely ethereal epilogue offers a mostly satisfying conclusion, even if it leaves a few questions unanswered. An engaging and poignant historical novel. —Kirkus Reviews

As romances, politics, and trauma arise for each sister, patterns of the past threaten to overwhelm and separate their connections: "Eliza pulled the receiver away from her face and brought it to her chest, her mind reeling. Again, Fa was asking her to bury her needs in the shadow of Shannon’s trauma. Again, pushed aside by Shannon’s neediness." Can the ties that bind prove changeable rather than breakable? Some things never change, and readers who undertake the journey of this evolving relationship between two sisters from childhood to adulthood will find that A Thread So Fine lassos the heart with stories of close connections tested by life's progression. Readers of women's fiction who especially enjoy stories of sister relationships will relish this engrossing saga of change and survival. —Midwest Book Review

There are so many issues in this beautifully written book: unwed mothers, veterans with PTSD, violence against women, a broken family, women’s ambitions, and adoption. Welch makes her readers ache for these two sisters and their unnecessary separation for so many years. This is one of those rare novels that forces you to sit for a few minutes after you’ve finished reading it until you are ready to return to the real world. —Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities Pioneer Press

“Ms. Welch was herself adopted and this journey provided the impetus for her to write this wonderful book. I fell in love with the characters and their separate journeys. If you are searching for a wonderful summer read this may be the book for you.” —Michelle Kaye Malsbury of Bookpleasures.com

“A touching story about family; A Thread So Fine will captivate and enlighten you...Susan Welch is a very talented writer; the story flows well and her attention to detail is fascinating. This book teaches you that not every family is perfect, and when things go wrong, you must take care of yourself.” —Reedsy Discovery

A Thread so Fine is a compelling tale of a family undone and remade.  Welch, the author, perfectly captures the Midwest upper class of the mid-20^th century and (slyly) foreshadows the feminist issues that are at the forefront today.  

"Irish twins navigate late-1940s Minnesota and their turbulent relationship in debut author Welch’s genuine story of family loyalty, misfortune, and potential. Born 11 months apart, plain and traditional Shannon Malone competes with, and is often bossed around by, her younger, more beautiful, and overachieving sister, Eliza. At 18, Shannon is quarantined in the hospital with tuberculosis, where she bonds with the women of her ward over being survivors. Meanwhile, Eliza, the pride of her professor father, enters college and begins dating the young David Whitaker. After Eliza is brutally raped by David’s cousin and becomes pregnant, she is destined for the Catholic Maternity Home for unwed mothers. Putting the baby up for adoption, Eliza is determined to further her academics with encouragement from Mrs. Perkins, a prominent government administrator. Once Shannon is released from the hospital, she finds new meaning in her life when she connects with Eliza’s daughter, Miriam. Welch steadily traces the two young women’s desire to forge their own lives, often hindered by shame, silence, guilt, and the stifling confines of societal expectations. Readers will be inspired by Shannon and Eliza’s persistence and heart."