First published 2022
Gammer Gurton frantically searches her cottage for her precious sewing needle. The old woman needs the needle to mend her servant Hodge's torn breeches, but it has vanished without a trace. The household erupts into chaos as accusations fly between neighbors. Hodge suspects their neighbor Dame Chat has stolen the needle, while Gammer Gurton grows increasingly desperate. The cunning Diccon stirs up trouble between the feuding households, playing both sides for his own amusement. As the search intensifies, the simple missing needle threatens to destroy friendships and turn the entire village against itself. What begins as a minor domestic mishap snowballs into a community crisis that tests loyalties and reveals the petty rivalries simmering beneath rural English life. The fate of Hodge's torn clothing becomes secondary to the larger question of trust and neighborly relations in a tight-knit community where everyone knows everyone else's business.
Genres: drama, domestic-fiction, historical-fiction, comedy
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Cottage, Village
Period: C. 1562
102 pages · Paperback · Legare Street Press