CROSS-STITCH, by Jazmina Barrera. Translated by Christina MacSweeney. Needlework is often depicted as a peaceful activity: feminine, unthreatening, decorative. Yet in Jazmina Barrera’s ...

In those days, she says, cross-stitching seemed to be all about teddy bears and fairies. But cruising the shops on Etsy, she found patterns for Harry Potter designs and sarcastic quotes to stitch.