Patchwork a Serialized Novel

1937    Sugar ignored the knocking and pulled the covers tighter. Tears dripped down her cheek. “God, why must I …

1980    Leaning gently on the lace tablecloth, Sugar’s graceful hand rattled the spoon rhythmically against the eggshell porcelain cup …

2013    The three of us walked into the large common room on the fourth floor of the Blue Goose, …

1896  “There’s nothing we can do – she’s gone,” the midwife said, shaking her head, patting Suzan’s shoulder as Phinizy …

1991    “David, it’s Jake. I’m calling again, about …”    “Hi Jake, I remember,” David said in his animated …

 1920    Sugar leaned over the ship’s rail, marveling at the swirling yellow and blue colors in the sea below. …

 1981    Jake awoke, wiping the layer of sweat off his forehead. He thought the ringing was only in his …

 1936    Sugar awoke when the sun rose above the flowering Chinese plum trees – as she had each day …

 1897    Each time Suzan tried to nurse her daughter, Sugar would only take a little milk in her mouth …

2013      “Why am I telling you about problems with my first husband?” Emma Kate said. “I’ve never even met …

1944    Sugar tried keeping the children’s attention on the makeshift classroom’s wood-planked wall, on which she had crudely scratched …

1936    Sugar knew something wasn’t right with her first pregnancy. She loved being in China, but hated being so …

1981    “I don’t want this book to be about my life in the Japanese internment camp in China,” Sugar …

1902    Sugar could tell when her parents were about to begin an argument. She hated those moments more than …

1913    When Sugar walked into Sunday School, her eyes immediately focused on the serious Chinese girl seated in the …

1980    Jake looked up at the courthouse lobby directory, eventually settling on Judge Bacheller Flythe, one of the many …

1945    “The Japanese guarding our concentration camp knew the war was over,” Sugar recalled as she gazed off beyond …

1943     After nearly two years of imprisonment in the Anqing internment camp, Sugar noticed her legs began to atrophy …

1980    “I’ll bring extra copies of your newspaper article on my way home tonight,” Jake told Sugar. Then he …

1936     Sugar spent the long summer night crying in her bed, knowing something was wrong with her baby.  She …

1931     Sugar tried to stay focused on teaching the Chinese students in her class, but her mind kept drifting …

1921     As Sugar explored the winding streets of her new Anqing home that all seemed to lead to the …

1904     Sugar felt the storm coming. It was late. Her daddy was out, again. Earlier, Grace made Suzan a …

1941    From her front door, Sugar watched the Japanese loading children onto the boats all day in Old Anqing …

1980     “One thing I learned about the Chinese,” Sugar said, gently placing the porcelain coffee cup in its gold-rimmed …

1981 Jake cut short his phone interview as the large newsroom clock ticked towards noon. He ran past the cluttered …

1936 Sugar looked at the tattered edges of her patchwork quilt. Grace had sewn it from fragments of shirts and …

2013 “Hi, my name is Jake and I’m sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if I could ask …

1937    Through her bedroom window on the edge of the diplomatic quarter, high on the hill above downtown, Sugar …

1945    “Momma, why is he wearing a sign?” David asked as they waited in the freezing cold rain.    …