Domestic Arts

Evie has spent ten years believing in a relationship that may never have valued her as much as she valued it.

Now, after a painful betrayal, she returns to Stella Mare and the house where she grew up. With her father moving into assisted living, Evie faces the practical task of clearing out her childhood home, and the unexpected discovery of an ancient hooked rug and her great-aunt Hannah’s diary.

What begins as an attempt to understand an intriguing family artifact soon becomes something much larger.

The rug opens a door into the lives of the women who came before Evie: women whose work was done largely in kitchens, bedrooms, sewing rooms, and other domestic spaces, yet whose creativity and intelligence found expression through the things they made. As Evie follows the stories hidden in the rug and the diary, she begins to see traditional women’s work not as insignificant household labor, but as a form of artistic expression and a record of women’s lives, beliefs, struggles, and aspirations.

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