n nFifty years is a long time to keep a secret.n nLooking back on her life, Maggie OConnor is rightfully pleased. Fifty years ago she left Ireland with a single suitcase and a dream. After long and satisfying career, she is enjoying retirement on her farm in rural Wisconsin -- until she falls. n nDetermined to regain her independence, she hires Isobel, a young woman who is also an emigrant. Helping Maggie clean house, Isobel finds a cache of letters that Maggie wrote to her parents those many years ago and begins to read them aloud to Maggie.n nBut the letters contain a secret, one that Maggie has kept for fifty years. A secret that threatens to destroy her life and that of the people around her. With little time left, she must make a choice -- give up, or face her past. n nA Measured Thread is a powerful story that explores questions of guilt, abandonment, redemption, and the consequences of the choices we make.n