I am utterly in love with this book! The writing is so beautiful and I was enchanted from start to finish as I found myself transported to 18th century London. Everything about this book feels so authentic and really captures the essence of the time - including wigs and powder!

This book is gorgeous inside and out. Full of elegant prose - silky like the subject - but also heartbreaking. A beautiful piece of historical fiction.

A beautiful historical fiction with a story of oppression and then freedom.
I've never read a book that covers the historical silk trade and it's conspiracies before and found this interesting. Plot driven rather than character based I found the storyline captivating and enchanting!
Thank you to NetGalley and quercus books for this arc in exchange for my honest review!

Sent away by her mother, Sara (no not me, I promise) arrives in London and soon finds herself working in a brothel, enduring an awful time before she is taken in by and made a lady’s maid to Esther Thorel, the much neglected wife of a prominent master weaver. Tensions in the community simmer as Esther’s creative desires grow, whilst Sara struggles to escape her past. The whole cast of characters are set on an epic collision course which culminates in a shocking showdown which feels authentically 18th century.

There are lots of interesting characters in the novel, and the dynamic between Sara and Esther (and that bloody kitchen maid) is fascinating, and the style that the story is told in, from the point of view of the two main female characters, is superb (it felt very Sarah Waters-like). The effect, early on in the novel, is simply hilarious. Two characters, living in the same house, spending most of their time together, and yet experiencing each other in totally different ways. Later on though, when the shit truly hits the fan, it becomes poignant as tragedy appears on the horizon.

Don’t let the pretty cover fool you, this is a novel that once again proves that historical fiction has the power to shine a light on modern day issues.

What this novel does so well is with its themes of class and power, including tensions between the workers and those who wield the power. This has a lot of relevance to today, as though we have a more established welfare state, the economic pressures still remain due to an ever changing social climate, like the effects of globalisation (imports such as Indian calico are mentioned). It illustrates the struggles of change within British manufacturing and craft industries even as far back as the 1760s. If only William Morris had had a novel like this to hand when he was dreaming of his socialist utopia!
Social injustice and inequality are tackled head on in the novel, but handled delicately, and it hurts to see how some characters escape their pasts whilst others are held to account for each indiscretion, because this is still true to this day in real life. Gender inequality also features heavily, and we find out that in this period women cannot do much of what a man can do but a women is unlikely to hang.

My only criticism? Silk isn’t produced by ‘sticky little worms’ (I should point out I flipping love insects, and am actually opposed to silk production, but anyway...), but the larva of silkmoths who get boiled alive after spinning their cocoons. Perhaps the expression wasn’t meant literally, perhaps it was. Aside from this one little detail, it is evident that a great deal of research has gone into the story, and the world that is depicted feels alive. It is a gripping read.

5 silky stars!

Blackberry and Wild Rose was published on 10th January 2019 by Quercus. Many thanks for the ARC.

Blackberry and Wild Rose tells the story of two women, one a naive fallen woman and the other the wife of a Huguenot silk weaver, during eighteenth century London.

The highlight for me was the relationship played out between Ethel and Sara, and the many parallels between them. It’s a relationship built initially on the supposed charity of Ethel, however it soon becomes clear that the two women have a lot more in common that they first think. Circumstance and privilege are all that separate them. I liked Ethel as a character, and found her more emotionally developed than Sara. She’s headstrong, intelligent and feels incredibly frustrated with regards to the limitations of her sex hindering her creative dreams and ambitions. I really felt this frustration, and found it accurate in what I would presume women felt during this time period. Going behind her husband’s back after he rejects her work to another weaver builds on this tension, and works itself into a great story. Sara I found more naive, and not as willing to changer her outcome in life. She’s not as colourful, or as well developed, and her story isn’t as interesting because of this.

I also liked the descriptions of the silk weaving industry. It’s not an area of history I’ve really looked into before, and I found it really fascinating and well described. I felt like I was working alongside these weavers, and it was great to see the starting spark of the industrial revolution through their eyes as well as acknowledging the rather precarious situation they were in. They were the front runners to our trade unions and workers rights, and I found their fight for freedom from the ‘masters’ of their trade interesting.

The plot, built around these two women, is quite slow and doesn’t really go far unfortunately. I found myself wanting to skip Sara’s chapters and read more of Ethel’s, and this disrupted my overall enjoyment of the story with its stop and start aspects. I also found it quite predictable, and there isn’t really any uniqueness involved. If you take out the silk weaving, it could be any historical fiction novel.

Well written descriptions of any interesting period in British history, but otherwise a typical historical fiction novel.

With huge thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book for an honest review. I wouldn't have ever picked this to read, I don't really read historical fiction but this was written so beautifully and descriptive that I think I might look out for others, especially written by this author.
I don't give spoilers in my reviews, this book is set in London with the silk weaving trade. I want to read more! A lovely book with a nod to the past.

I had a hankering to read Sonia Velton’s debut novel Blackberry & Wild Rose for its stunning cover alone before I knew anything more about the story. But what a world I found wrapped up in that oh so very beautiful dust jacket.

Blackberry & Wild Rose is a remarkably rich and immersive novel and, in writing it, Sonia Velton has created the kind of world I long to lose myself in as a reader. From the moment Sara steps off the cart that’s brought her to London and Mrs Swann scoops her up and bundles her along to the Wig & Feathers, I was plunged into eighteenth century Spitalfields. Sonia Velton fills her pages with the sights, sounds and smells of the area in this period so well that I felt as if I were living the story alongside her characters.

Told from the perspective of Sara and her ‘saviour’ Esther, this is the story of two very different women both constrained by the limited opportunities available to them and how vulnerable they are by dint of their sex. I took a more immediate liking to Sara but I think that was in part down to how soon her fresh start in the city turns sour and that she’s viewed as a project, rather than another woman in the household, by Esther. It takes longer to discover Esther’s heart’s desire and realise the consequences of her thwarted dreams and wasted talents, and the frustration and resentment these engender. But once they became known, I couldn’t help but feel for her and want her to find some comfort and happiness.

It was fascinating to learn something about the Huguenots, their customs and beliefs, and the society they formed in this area of London, together with their trade as silk weavers. It’s not something I knew very much about and the novel made me curious to find out more. It was interesting, if unsurprising, to see how the Huguenots closed ranks, much like any society under threat, and how those considered outsiders fared as a result. The contrast between the lives of the master weavers and the journeymen was stark and the friction between these two factions as taut and liable to snap as the silk threads on their looms.

It was brutal how hopes and dreams, kindness, love and good intentions are all trampled underfoot along the way but the book ultimately ends on a more hopeful note. I had the sense that there had been some shift in this world to make more room for these resilient women in it.

Blackberry & Wild Rose is as beautifully intricate a story as the pattern on its covers would suggest.

This is the story of two women: Sara Kemp who arrived in London as a naive young girl and was pounced on by one of the city's many brothel-keepers and Esther Thorel, the wife of a silk-weaver. One rich and one poor but the two women have many things in common too - they each have less power than the men around them. Sara has, obviously, been at the mercy of the men who visit the brothel and indeed it is dangerously brutal treatment at the hands (literally) of one punter which convinces her to leave even though the life of a servant doesn't appeal after the relative freedom of harlotry but it is Esther's story which reflects more subtle but equally real gender inequalities. She loves to paint and would love to see her designs made into the silks her husband's journeymen produce but her work is dismissed as a mere accomplishment, her husband seems to think less and less of her as each month passes without any evidence of a pregnancy. He holds her background against her and, illogically, blames her for the loss of social standing he suffered when he married her rather than a more suitable Huguenot bride.

When both Sara and Esther become involved in the life of a pair of journeyman weavers, one of whom is using a loom in the Thorel household, they also become embroiled in the growing unrest between the Master-weavers and their workers, who are developing revolutionary ideas about fair pay and liberty. In the ensuing violence both women discover where true power really lies.

"...There are no secrets in London"

Esther Thorel is a wife of a Huguenot silk weaver, she rescues Sara Kemp from her unfortunate life in a brothel under the pretext of doing gods work however, when Sara begins her maid duties she is not convinced she is any better off but to escape her madam the offer is too good to ignore.

In the Thorels Spitalfields home, the ghost of two looms haunts the attic.  As the women's relationship is forged through the physical intimacies between maid and mistress, Sara becomes ever hostile to Esthers inability to see the hypocrisy of her household, too absorbed in her own secrets to believe Sara is a threat.

Esther is a painter, keen to transfer her artwork to the craft of silk weaving.  Her husband rebukes her suggestion which forces her to develop a relationship with a journeyman weaver working on the loom in the attic, in the hopes of obtaining his own status as master weaver.  This relationship not only teaches her to weave but ignites events which will effect the whole household.


I was kindly given the opportunity to review this book through NetGalley and Quercus and would like to thank them for the opportunity to give my true and honest review. 

The basis for this story is inspired by the true historical character, Anna Maria Garthwaite (pictured to the left) who resided in Spitalfields and was a foremost silk designer in the 18th Century, during the time the industrial tensions of this story take place, culminating in the Cutters Riots of 1763.

This is Sonia Velton's debut novel and starting out I have to say it did somewhat feel that way, the plot and character building was at time sluggish and it took at least 75 pages before I was interested or invested in the characters being portrayed.

The authors writing style is one of slow elegance and reminiscent of the writing style of Sarah Waters.  Her  descriptions of 18th Century Spitalfields and the portrayal of Sara's beginnings as a child born to parents in service highlights how your standing begins at birth during this time, leaving few other options available for the direction of her life and truly makes you appreciate the opportunities we have available to us in the 21st Century.

The weaving industry originated in Spitalfields during Tudor times and was initially in the creation of ribbons and trimmings, pure silk weaving however did not arrive in London until the early 17th Century.  The story details the position of the weaving trade during the height of it's success and beautifully builds the tension felt by the weavers when cheaper silks began to be brought to England from overseas by the East India Company putting pressure on the price of silk produced in the City.

Despite the slow start I would give this book a 4 star rating as the back and forth of the plot felt very much like the rythmic motion of the loom and its dramatic conclusion drew you hungrily to it's conclusion.

So wonderful I read this all in one sitting. I loved all the characters and how complexly imagined they were. Loved the way the story jumped back and forth between the two of them so quickly. And loved descriptions of historical London. Basically loved every second.

Amazing. I loved this book written in my favourite era in eighteenth-century London. Historical, interesting and intriguing. I don't want to give too much away in this review except to say that it is a must read and a history lesson. Buy it now.

‘Blackberry and Wild Rose’, the debut novel of Sonia Velton, is entrancing. So many novels are hyped prior to publication but disappoint on reading. This does not. Carefully imagined and cleverly plotted, it kept me reading until the end. It reminded me of Tracy Chevalier’s early novels in which the reader is immersed in a historical world down to the smallest detail.
‘Blackberry and Wild Rose’ tells the story of two women in eighteenth century Spitalfields, London, where the houses are full of weavers and looms clatter every hour of daylight, set alongside the everyday noise, bustle and smells of market stalls, shops, inns and bawdy houses. In 1768, Sara Kemp arrives in Spitalfields from the country, sent away from home by her mother for something she does not understand. Obviously alone and lost, she is taken up by Mrs Swann and put to work in her brothel. Esther Thorel is an Englishwoman married to a Huguenot master of silk. Dissatisfied with her life with a husband obsessed by his business, Esther paints naturalistic flowers which she longs to see reproduced in silk. Dismissed by her husband, instead she fulfils the role expected by her husband and does good works with other Huguenot wives. When the paths of the two women cross one day outside the Wig and Feathers tavern, the lives of many people change. Sara, trying to escape Mrs Swann, must pay an unaffordable sum of money for her freedom. Esther pays the debt and employs her as maidservant in her household. Esther’s husband Elias is unaware of Sara’s background. Both women are blind to each other’s plight. Esther sees Sara as a charitable case, simply helped; Sara despises Esther’s inability to see the truth in front of her nose. It is apparent that there is one set of rules for men, another for women. Though so different, Sara and Esther are essentially trapped by their sex and by their roles, and dependent on the prosperity of the Thorel silk business.
Eighteenth century silk weaving was a highly competitive business, threatened by the import of light, cheap printed cottons imported by the East India Company. As the margins of the masters, including Thorel, are cut, the wages of their journeymen weavers are cut too. The weavers gather together in ‘combinations’, early trade unions, to press their case. Some are militant, issuing ultimatums. Some are violent. As this instability threatens the Thorel livelihood, Esther and Sara individually set off on paths which lead them into a conflict which ends in death. Both must make decisions; to tell the truth and suffer, or to lie and survive.
The woman are credible, contradictory, selfish, generous, often peevish and unlikeable. They are not modern women, with the morals and expectations of modern life, placed into a historical setting. Although both are independent and often wilful, they are eighteenth century women and so may not be to the taste of some readers. The men are similarly selfish, ambitious, deceitful and nasty – with one or two exceptions – and utterly believable. These are not stereotypes, there are characters which redeem faith in human nature, but this is not a novel in which the role of women is enhanced from the factual truth of the time. The story ends with a trial at which the judge says, ‘I understand that all this is difficult for you – a servant and a woman – to understand…’ But the men in this story underestimate the women at their peril.
The story of Esther, silk designer, is loosely based on the real Anna Maria Garthwaite, whose patterns and silks can be seen in London’s Victoria & Albert Museum. The title of the novel is one of Esther’s designs. Excellent.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/

When Esther rescues Sara from a brothel she expects gratitude and feels that she is doing God's Will, Sara however feels that the job of a maid is still below her. The house that she has been brought to is in Spitalfields, the heart of the Huguenot silk weaving industry, the business that Esther's husband is involved in. Esther however wants her art designs to be transferred to silk and her husband will not listen....... could she possibly ignore him and learn how to weave herself?

An interesting story about the volatile silk industry, the author had obviously done a lot of research into this period and I also thought the dual points of view of Sara and Esther worked well.

I am enjoying this - somewhat. Not totally certain as I am finding the characters - especially the men - very thinly fleshed out. I can't cheer for any of them, as I don't honestly feel any of their emotions on other than a superficial level. But a good debut novel, and I look forward to Sonia's next work, as I'm sure she'll improve.

Beautifully written piece of historical fiction, set in 1760's about the Huguenot silkmakers, every characters story is interwoven as smoothly as the silk that is written about. Loved his I was ommersed from the first page!

Very good read. A really interesting historical fiction set in the silk area of London in the 1700s. The story follows two different women who meet near the beginning of the book. Lots of turns to follow, I really recommend this book.

Historical fiction, female main characters all interweave (see what I did there?) to create a truly interesting read. This book also has a really interesting cover!

A wonderful read. Set in Spittalfields, England in the late 18th Century and told through the eyes of Sarah and Esther. It was beautifully written and held my interest throughout so much so I didn't want it to end. Very poignant and sad at times . Clearly well researched. I look forward to reading more from Ms Vetton.

Set in late 18th century London this book carries the historical nature of its fiction well. The author has created an evocative tale of the people involved in the silk weaving industry and their place in society. I liked the characterisation and, for the most part, the story told although I struggled a little with the rating for this as I sometimes feel this sort of fiction can be far from an uplifting read. However it is well written and has a great storyline with enough pivotal events to keep the reader entertained

Found this a bit of a slog to get through to be honest.

I didn't really like any of the characters in this book (a common finding of late unfortunately), so didn't invest any emotion in this read. As a lover of textiles, I was interested in the viewpoints of the various parties, and was pleased to learn that one of the main characters was based on a real designer.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in return for my honest review.