Review: An Invisible Thread by Laura Schroff

Genre: Biography/Memoir
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Released: Nov. 1, 2010
238 pages

About the Book:

This inspirational New York Times bestseller chronicles the lifelong friendship between a busy sales executive and a disadvantaged young boy, and how both of their lives were changed by what began as one small gesture of kindness. A straightforward tale of kindness and paying it forward in 1980s New York….an uplifting reminder that small gestures matter-Kirkus Reviews.

Stopping was never part of the plan...

She was a successful ad sales rep in Manhattan. He was a homeless, eleven-year-old panhandler on the street. He asked for spare change; she kept walking. But then something stopped her in her tracks, and she went back. And she continued to go back, again and again. They met up nearly every week for years and built an unexpected, life-changing friendship that has today spanned almost three decades.

Whatever made me notice him on that street corner so many years ago is clearly something that cannot be extinguished, no matter how relentless the forces aligned against it. Some may call it spirit. Some may call it heart. It drew me to him, as if we were bound by some invisible, unbreakable thread. And whatever it is, it binds us still.

My Rating & Thoughts:    ⭐⭐⭐

This is a biography that was loaned to me through somebody at work. It is a true story about a relationship between an 11-year-old panhandler and a busy sales exec in Manhattan, told from the perspective of the sales exec. They crossed paths in the 1980s when Maurice, the boy, asked Laura, the sales exec, for spare change. At first, she walked right on by but then went back and offer to take him to the McDonald’s nearby to get some food. As they sat eating she got to know a little about him suggested they meet up the next Monday for food. After a few weeks this started becoming a regular thing and they met every Monday for quite a while and then it expanded to Saturdays as well. It was interesting to learn how to their friendship developed and that she tried to help him anyway she could without being overbearing and overstepping because he did have a mom and grandmother. His family was caught up in the whole drug lifestyle, selling, taking and dealing. These two individuals were as different as could be, him an African American boy living on the streets and her a white woman in her mid-30s with a successful job living in Manhattan. The story is told completely from Laura's point of view and throughout it she says well this is what Maurice was feeling and this is how he reacted. However there were times throughout the book where she will say that this is what Maurice told me this happened at the time but then I found out a years later that it didn’t really happen that way or what he told me wasn’t really the truth because he didn’t want to tell me the truth for various reasons. That kind of frustrated me because no one really knows how someone else is really feeling about things. It was a positive story, but it did feel like at times Laura was trying to make herself look job and that annoyed me. It felt like it was all about her and what she did. She does admit that there were times she could have done better for him and did make some decisions that she regrets. It was nice to learn that even though Maurice had such a difficult background he did not get mixed up in the drugs as he saw what happened to his family, he was determined to follow the right path. It was inspiring what he’s done with his life as of the publish date. I did like that there was a letter from Maurice included at the end of the book sharing his point of view of his relationship with Laura. This was an easy read which included pictures.

(I purchased my copy of this book; opinions expressed 

in this review are my honest opinion and completely my own.)