The
Invisible Thread by Laura Schroff and Alex Tresniowski
is a wonderful book about an unlikely story. The story is told by Laura who has
a prominent position in a Manhattan advertising firm because she wouldn’t take
no for an answer and was willing to work harder than anyone else she knew.
Laura grew up on Long Island and doesn’t have a college education, but in the
1980s, she is a big shot. One afternoon, an 11-year old boy approaches her and
asks her for spare change because he is hungry. Initially, Laura walks away,
but something in her makes her turn back. Instead of giving Maurice, the boy,
money, she takes him to get something to eat at McDonald’s. This is the
beginning of an unlikely friendship which changes both of their lives.
Laura and Maurice meet every week for dinner.
Eventually they meet at Laura’s apartment for meals and to make cookies. Laura
buys Maurice the essentials like a book bag, warm coat, socks and underwear,
but never anything flashy, even though she can afford to do so. She doesn’t
believe it will help Maurice to have flashy things, which will likely get
stolen anyway. She is careful to not try
to change Maurice’s world, because she can’t; she can only make it better.
It’s revealed
that Maurice lives in a kind of poverty that none of us can imagine. He lives
in a rundown hotel in the worst part of the city. His whole family are drug
dealers and drug users. Maurice and his young siblings go days without anything
to eat. They live in one room, with two twin beds, and no sheets, blankets, or
anything. Maurice has behavior problems at school and he has been convinced he
is stupid. With Laura’s help, things get a little easier.
It’s also revealed that while she was never hungry
as a child, Laura grew up in a house where her father turned abusive when he is
drinking. She lived in fear. At night she and her sister hid to avoid the wrath
of her father and made it by in school. It’s this secret life that she lead
that makes her open minded to Maurice and his struggles.
Their friendship carries on through numerous life
changes and decades. The concept that we don’t know the connection that we have
to people, the invisible thread that binds us all. So many people walked by
11-year old Maurice that day, and by turning back, it changed both of their
lives forever.
The book is a fast and easy read. The storytelling
isn’t complicated or sophisticated in any way. This reader may have unfolded
the story differently, but it’s still a nice read and a wonderful story. This
book would suit those who are drawn to memoir, stories about children in need,
or an uplifting story.
H.W.
