The Sewing Machine cover art

The Sewing Machine

Preview

Free with 30-day trial
A 30-day trial plus your first audiobook free.
1 credit/month after trial—to buy any title you like, yours to keep.
Listen all you want to a selection of thousands of Audible Originals, audiobooks and podcasts.
$16.45 a month after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.

The Sewing Machine

By: Natalie Fergie
Narrated by: Angus King, Ruth Urquhart
Free with 30-day trial

$16.45/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.
Cancel

About this listen

It is 1911, and Jean is about to join the mass strike at the Singer factory. For her, nothing will be the same again.

Decades later, Connie sews coded moments of her life into a notebook, as her mother did before her. More than 100 years after his grandmother's sewing machine was made, Fred unpicks the secrets of four generations, one stitch at a time.

©2017 Natalie Fergie (P)2017 W. F. Howes Ltd
Family Life Fiction Historical Fiction

What listeners say about The Sewing Machine

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    60
  • 4 Stars
    14
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    51
  • 4 Stars
    14
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    50
  • 4 Stars
    14
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Satisfying story

This was interesting book. The narration was great. The characters and their conversations were satisfying and the way their life’s are sewn together seemed seamless

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

really beautiful story

comfort food in book form. my grandma was from Glasgow and passed many years ago - the narration and accents were very good and accurate to Edinburgh and Glasgow and the story was heartwarming and the author clearly did their research - loved it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

So poignant!

I loved this story! Being a seamstress, I could relate very well. The way Natalie brought the three generations together was skilful and clever. Beautiful!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Easy listening

As someone who enjoyed sewing as a child with my scottish, Nanna this book was cathartic for me as I sort though her things. Its a very easy listen and i thoroughly enjoyed it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

An easy read

I very much enjoyed this gentle book, the story woven through three generations and the way the sewing machine linked them.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Warmth in Edinburgh's History

Where does The Sewing Machine rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the best.

What did you like best about this story?

Natalie knows her subject well. All too often the role of Sewing Machines is relegated to domesticity and diffidence by non-sewing authors; Here, the machine is granted its own importance in the lives of three families. I know that Ms Fergie did months of research before starting this work. She knows her audience well and one machine detail wrongly attributed would lose her the respect of her readers. For once, we who sew have a writer who writes with knowledge and respect for our world. Her characters are good people who are just managing....normal, ordinary. You get the sweep of industrial history from 1911 Clydebank to modern-day Edinburgh with a good dose of no-nonsense NHS hospital ward management for stability.

Have you listened to any of Ruth Urquhart and Angus King ’s other performances? How does this one compare?

No.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Natalie has created warm people whom feel you know. I have read the book too. This audio production had the right balance between narrative and private musings....and I have done voice-work in the past so I know this matters. Having the book presented in dialogue was vital to its tone so praise to whomever insisted on that. There is generosity from start to finish from Ms Fergie and Ruth and Angus.

Any additional comments?

This is a book you truly go quiet for. It does your soul good and makes you proud of the women and men who worked in the past with strike action, war, war-work, the Depression, the generosity of good people, social-housing, measles epidemics, sewing, and gardening allotments.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Stick with it

A little slow to start, but well worth it!
I throughly enjoyed the story and the twists that came along with it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The Sewing Machine

Started off slightly confusing but then turned into a particularly good read, touching on all human emotions and the way fate touches all of us.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A Slow Start

This book is something of a slow burn. It takes a while to come together and starts out as little more than a series of vignettes from different points in time. Eventually, the common theme - a 1911 Singer sewing machine - unites the disparate stories. A gentle story that is worthwhile in the end

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

threads of life sewn into wonderful tale

Thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook. a fascinating story, beautifully told. You are kept guessing until the last few words.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.