I actually ended up enjoying "Shining Threads". At the start I hated Tessa Greenwood and her two cousins. They were shallow, self-absorbed, entitled and obnoxious. In fact, the whole book reminded me of "Gone with the Wind", both novels being epic family sagas with a sweeping love story; a conceited, unlikeable female protagonist, fortunes lost, devastation and interesting secondary characters. While I never totally warmed to Scarlett O'Hara, I did with Tess. She grew from a spoilt, materialistic teenage brat who deliberately used her female charms to get her own way, to a woman of strength and compassion. When Tessa was reduced to nothing with the death of her husband and the loss of the cotton trade, she started to rebuild from the ashes with determination, intelligence and strength of character. Like Scarlett, she was a survivor

All the characters in "Shining Threads" were vivid and I couldn't get them out of my head despite disliking many of them. However, my favourite was Will Broadbent. He did annoy me on occasion but he was swarthy, hard working and dashing, and swept young Tessa off her feet. Like Scarlett and Rhett, Tessa and Will's relationship was turbulent and addictive. He knew Tessa for who she really was, and still love her.

The pictures of the cotton mills and the moors where Tessa and her cousins loved to ride were lush and vibrant. However, there were times where the descriptions were lengthy and it would have been better had the author used fewer words.

Despite the slow start, and nearly 600 pages, I found "Shining Threads" very entertaining and by the midway point I was totally captivated in the lives of Tessa, Will and the others. ( )