What a beautiful book! The writing in this book is superb and so easy to read. The descriptions are both beautiful and humorous.

Violet Speedwell is a spinster who finds a life for herself in Winchester. She stumbles upon the cathedral broderers and learns the art of needlework.

This book follows Violet’s life for 2 years as she navigates her way through the many struggles of being a woman in the 1930s. It deals informatively with issues faced by unmarried women of the time as well as the rising threat of Hitler.

A wonderful read that I wish had not come to an end.

A wonderful book!
A Single Thread is set in the period after World War 1, just before Hitler takes power in Germany. Violet Speedwell is a ‘surplus woman’, and so she is expected to live out her life caring for her ageing, cantankerous mother, and throwing herself on the mercy of her brother as she ages. However, Violet isn’t prepared to live her life like this. She manages to get a transfer from her job in Southampton to their Winchester offices. Life isn’t easy for Violet, and she lives off sandwiches and tea in her rented room. By chance, she finds herself in Winchester Cathedral on the day of the Society of Broderers service, where the embroidered kneelers and cushions are blessed and placed in the cathedral for the public to use. Violet finds herself drawn to the embroidery, and even though she has no experience, she becomes involved in the group.

I loved the descriptions of the embroidery: the different stitches, the colours, the camaraderie and friendships that Violet makes with Gilda and Miss Pesel (who incidentally, really existed - and what a life SHE had!). Who knew that embroidery and campanology (bell-ringing) could be so interesting?! Violet becomes very interested in bell-ringing - whether that’s because of the actual bell-ringing, or the fatherly Arthur who she falls in love with, I’m not quite sure.

I thought the social attitudes of the time were really well portrayed. ‘Spare women’ weren’t regarded very favourably, but this was something completely out of their control: so many young men had been killed during the war, that there just weren’t enough men to go round. And when some women found love with one another, they were ostracised and ridiculed. It’s good to see that we have moved on in some ways.

Anyway, I loved this book. It’s not just about embroidery and campanology, and I think that any reader will be pleasantly surprised at how interesting Tracy Chevalier makes these things! It’s a social commentary, a love story, a story about friendship and passion: of the man/ woman, woman/ woman and hobbies varieties. And I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.

Violet is a single woman trying to make a life for herself after her love was lost in the First World War. There must have been many such women, but society did not know how to include them. She left an oppressive mother to make a life for herself in Winchester and found an unlikely saviour in the broderers who embroidered for the church. If this sounds dull then it doesn't do justice to the warm story being told.

Tracy Chevalier is one of my favourite authors, therefore I was very much looking forward to reading A Single Thread. Who knew that a story about broderers and bell ringers would be so captivating! It’s 1932 and Violet Speedwell moves to Winchester from Southampton, escaping an overbearing mother, to work in an insurance office. She becomes involved and enrols in a group, all with their own secrets, who embroider kneelers and cushions for the cathedral. She also meets married Arthur Knight, a bell ringer, and develops feelings for him.

I thought this was a delightful and thoughtfully written tale of friendship, family and unrequited love. Tracy Chevalier has woven a brilliant story touching on social history during the inter-war years. It’s well researched and beautifully combines historical fact with fiction, giving a great sense of time and place. The writing style is wonderful, the author has her own reflective and engaging approach - it easily transported me to the era.

This is a fabulous read, a story to savour, it’s gentle and moving but also contains a hint of something darker and menacing. If you enjoy character based stories, then you can do no better than read this one. I loved it and was sad to turn the last page.

My thanks to HarperCollins U.K. /The Borough Press for an eARC via NetGalley of Tracy Chavalier’s ‘A Single Thread’ in exchange for an honest review.

In 1932 Violet Speedwell is still mourning the loss of her brother and fiancée in the Great War. She is considered by society as a ‘surplus woman’, unlikely to marry. Anxious to escape her overbearing mother, Violet moves to Winchester.

Her life is quite lonely until the day she visits Winchester Cathedral and discovers the broderers, a group of women who are engaged in a project to embroider the kneelers and cushions for the cathedral. Gradually she becomes drawn into their lives and her own life begins to slowly change. In the distance there are rumblings of a fresh conflict in Europe.

Tracy Chevalier has once again created a work of historical fiction that is rich in period detail as well as a depth of characterisation. In addition, her detailed portrayal of 1930s Winchester and surrounding areas was very evocative.

One of the supporting characters is Louisa Pesel, who in real life was the creative force behind the embroideries in Winchester Cathedral. This fascinating woman becomes a mentor for the fictional Violet. Although I have little skill for embroidery/needlepoint, I have been fascinated by its history and symbolism.

In her acknowledgements Tracy Chevalier lists her sources and suggestions if people wish to explore further. These include books on Winchester Cathedral and its embroideries, on Louisa Pesel, and on bell-ringing, which plays a big part in the story. She also includes some works on the lives of women and the social history of Britain during the 1930s.

I was drawn very deeply into Violet’s story finding it a gentle tale that feels true to its period in terms of social mores and etiquette. Tracy Chevalier is an author that I trust in terms of authenticity.

‘A Single Thread’ is the kind of novel that I would expect to be popular with reading groups as aside from a well written, engaging read its highlighting of women’s status in this period of history is bound to provide plenty of scope for discussion.

A (belated) coming-of-age in 1930’s Winchester and Southampton. 38-year old Violet Speedwell has just escaped her overbearing, crotchety mother and started a meagrely paid typist job at Winchester. By chance she encounters a group of women in Winchester Cathedral, the Winchester Broderers, providing embroidered cushions and kneelers for the church.
The war deaths of both her brother and her fiancé have had a major impact on Violet and she struggles to find friendship and solace in her life.
Top marks for portraying the stifling conventions of the 1930s, where spinsters were regarded as failures and potential threats to married men.
Top marks for portraying the gray-beige life that most people lead, the poverty, the make-do but also the joy of little things, thoughtfulness and chivalry. Great insights into the realms of church embroidery and bell-ringing.
However, the plot plods on a bit; had hoped for more than the (in today’s terms) negligible “scandal”.3.5 stars

This is an absolute gem of a book. I loved the main character Violet and the storylines. It's 1932 and the losses of WW1 are still being felt. Violet is mourning her the deaths of her fiance and brother and finds that she's a surplus woman - one who's unlikely to marry.

Her mother finds fault in everything and is a demanding woman. Although Violet is now in her late 30s she's leaving home for the first time to work and live in Winchester and be an independent woman. She finds a room in a lodging house and transfers her typist job to the local insurance office.

She lives frugally but is happy to be away from her mother. She comes across a group of women who are broderers - who embroider kneelers for the Cathedral and becomes part of the group making friends with Gilda and Dorothy. She also meets Arthur, a married bellringer whom she really, really likes.

Something happens on a solo walking holiday which scares her but she puts it to one side until it happens again. She stands up for herself and fights back.

She grabs life with both hands and her life changes for ever (but in a good way!) Absolutely loved the story.

I have never read anything by Tracy Chevalier before. I know she had big success with The Girl with the Pearl Earring but I never got round to reading it. When I as granted the opportunity to read A Single Thread I was glad that I hadn’t read anything previous because it gave me a chance to read it in a more pure way – without comparison to other work. I wanted to see if I liked Tracy Chevalier’s writing style.

I did. I really did.

A Single Thread is the story of Violet Speedwell. In post war Britain, Violet is trying to find her own place in the world whilst trying to come to terms with heartbreaking loss. Add on a miserable matriarch of a mother and you begin to get a sense of why Violet is feeling so suffocated in her own little corner of the world.

When an opportunity arises to spread her wings and leave her current situation Violet grabs it with both hands and refuses to let go. She makes a new life for herself and along the way makes friends at a broderers group. Although life has been cruel we see Violet – at 37 – finally start to grow up.

A Single Thread is a look at many things: post World War One and the devastation that came with it, the changing roles of women, and how we assert our independence.

I loved it.

A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier is available now.

For more information regarding Tracy Chevalier (@Tracy_Chevalier) please visit www.tchevalier.com.

For more information regarding Harper Collins (@HarperCollins) please visit www.harpercollins.com.

This is a charming and beautifully written story set in the 1930s. The detail of the history of Winchester cathedral is outstanding and I learnt much about the place. Equally stunning was the detail of the embroidery work done by volunteers to enhance the beauty of the cathedral, and of the bellringing - now I feel I have an understanding of how that music is achieved. Overlaid onto this detail is a gentle and absorbing story of friendship and love.. It was a delight to read.

A new novel by Tracy Chevalier is always a treat. I’ve loved her books since her first, A Virgin Blue, was published way back in 1997 and in the intervening years she’s gone from strength to strength. Her 10 novels include the brilliant Girl with a Pearl Earring, which has sold more than five million copies and was made into an Oscar-nominated film starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth.

Her latest, A Single Thread, is set in 1932, when the terrible losses of the First World War are still keenly felt and very raw. Violet Speedwell, the novel’s lead character, lost both her fiancé and her brother in the war and at 38 she’s seen as a “surplus woman” who is unlikely to marry.

Violet finally resolves to escape her overbearing and judgemental mother, who “wore a frown even in sleep”, and strike out on her own. She duly moves to Winchester, where she rents a room in a draughty boarding house and works as a typist. Her life takes a more interesting turn when she joins the broderers, a disparate group of women who embroider kneelers for Winchester Cathedral. She soon becomes entwined in their lives and secrets (the formidable Mrs Biggins, who organises the broderers, is a great comic creation, with some caustic one-liners) and forms a friendship with a cathedral bellringer that will change her life.

Tracy Chevalier is brilliant at portraying time and place. When I reviewed Burning Bright, her novel set in 18th century London, a few years back, I remarked how I could “almost smell the smoke and mildewed clothes, see the gaunt, pock-marked faces of people struggling to survive.” She performs a similar feat in A Single Thread. I could picture every scene in my mind’s eye – from Violet’s chilly, cramped room with fawn stockings drying on a rack to the 900-year-old cathedral itself – “a source of refuge for so many over the centuries”.

Once again Chevalier has produced a remarkable book. A Single Thread is evocative, beautifully written, impeccably researched – and immensely readable.

I loved this book and it was a really engrossing, satisfying read. It is set in the early 1930s and follows Violet Speedwell having to cope with a different life plan than what she envisaged earlier in her life. One of her brothers and her fiance died in WW1 so she is left a spinster in her thirties, a larger group than society acknowledged I think. To escape her martyred and embittered widowed mother (her beloved father having sadly passed away) Violet moves to Winchester. Here Tracey Chevalier's impeccable research shows as she describes the city, the cathedral and the surrounding locality. It is so true to its setting and I loved how Violet becomes involved with the broderers of the cathedral. It is such an enjoyable read, like the author's previous books. She brings in interesting characters, intertwining them in Violet's life. I hadn't appreciated just how young women of that circumstance and period were so stigmatized in society. A great book and one that I was sorry to finish.

Chevalier has just the right way of describing characters that ensures you have a vivid image of them and can hence fully share their actions, thoughts and feelings. 'A Single Thread' begins in such a way and throughout the story you find yourself walking Violet's steps with her.
It is not at all necessary for the reader to be interested in embroidery but, if so, then this is a gem. However, if you're looking for a war-time novel that is full of action and tension then this is not for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and The Borough Press (Harper Collins Publishers) for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

I hate it that I didn’t enjoy this book. Tracy Chevalier is one of my favourite authors and I was so anxious to get approved to read it but it just fell flat. I don’t sew or do any craft work so perhaps that was the reason. My only consolation is that judging by all the five star reviews others did enjoy it.
I will still look out for the next book from this author & hope this was simply not a good fit for me.

I adore Tracy Chevalier's books and couldn't wait to read this one, which jumped straight to the top of my TBR pile.

A Single Thread is set in the 1930s, when single women were considered 'surplus' because so many men of that generation had died during the First World War. Violet Speedwell lost both her fiance and her brother. After years being worn down by her mother's relentlessly negative comments and outlook, Violet realises she has to make some drastic changes to her life. She starts by moving from Southampton to Winchester and taking on a new job. At first she is lonely, as the women in her office are much younger and they don't seem to have anything in common. But she relishes her independence and soon makes friends with a group of women who embroider kneeling cushions at Winchester Cathedral. Yet soon the threat of another war looms.

While I love historical novels, I hate sewing and anything 'crafty', so in theory I'm not the target audience for this story! However, Tracy's skill at creating fascinating characters soon drew me in and I couldn't put the book down. I particularly loved Violet's fellow 'broderers'; Gilda and her sweet love affair with Dorothy, and also Louisa, who rebelled against the Nazis in her own unique way. I know Winchester and the cathedral very well, and enjoyed reading about all the familiar landmarks. The only thing I wasn't so keen on was the man Violet became obsessed with, as I didn't feel he deserved her. I did like the ending though!

I really enjoyed reading A Single Thread, which is almost a love letter to Winchester Cathedral and the unsung heroes who have worked there over the centuries. I can see it appealing to anyone who enjoys historical novels, particularly those set in the early 20th century.

Thank you to Tracy Chevalier and The Borough Press (Harper Collins UK) for my copy of this book, which I requested via NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

My favourite Tracy Chevalier books have been Falling Angels, which is set in the tumultuous decades at the start of the 20th century and charts the dramatic changes in women’s lives at that time, and Remarkable Creatures, which features a young woman whose obsession with scientific discovery also leads her to defy the conventions of society. For me her latest novel, A Single Thread, combines elements from both of these books and I enjoyed it just as much.

Violet Speedwell is one of the ‘surplus’ women who were left behind after the devastation of the Great War. That pitied generation whose “dancing partners were old enough to be their grandfather, or far too young, or damaged in a way Violet knew she could never fix”. Her fiancé Laurence died at Passchendaele and now at the age of 38 Violet has resigned herself to living the life of a single woman and is determined to make the most of it. She moves away from her demanding, over-critical mother and takes a room in a boarding house for single ladies in the cathedral city of Winchester. One day she meets a group of ‘broderers’, the women who embroider kneelers and cushions for the cathedral, and Violet immerses herself in their craft and companionship, blossoming thanks to her new hobby and the friendships she makes.

This is a gentle read, thoughtful and observant in tone. There’s rather a lot of detail in relation to bell ringing and embroidery which did cause the book to drag slightly for me at times, but the touching story of Violet’s determination to make a meaningful life for herself, her illicit love affair and her determination to gently rebel against the conventions of society held my interest throughout. I really enjoyed it and I was pleased with the unexpected (and rather scandalous for the time) ending.

Violet Speedwell is a woman in her later 30s who is trying to make her way in the world, at a time when women had very little freedom and when men were scarce following on from WW1, when so many had been killed. Her existence, as it was for many unmarried women, was pretty much hand-to-mouth, as women took jobs whilst waiting for a marriage proposal to knock on the door. If they didn’t come, what then?

Women were expected to care for their parents, they were not expected to go out much on their own. The rigours of society were such that women were stifled and had to adhere to norms imposed by a masculine hierarchy. Violet and her friends are, however, not going to remain sequestered in a humdrum lifestyle.

Having moved away from her über-critical mother in Southampton, Violet takes lodgings in Winchester with some other young women, a very formal set up watched over by redoubtable landlady Mrs Harvey. She also finds herself a typing job, working alongside O and Mo (Olive and Maureen) in an insurance company.

A serendipitous visit to Winchester Cathedral finds her spell bound by the work of the broderers, who are sewing beautiful designs onto kneelers and seat cushions to soften the hardness of the spiritual experience. After a few test runs and eagle-eyed evaluation of her handiwork, she is welcomed into the community and it becomes a regular part of her life. She meets Gilda and her friend Dorothy and forms a firm friendship. The broderers’ work is carried out under the watchful eye of Louisa Pesel, a real person in history.

She also meets bell ringer Arthur who regularly rings both at the Cathedral and in Nether Wallop but he is already married….

Circumstances lead her to choose to go on a walking holiday, once again something that is not quite proper for a young woman to do and she frightens herself witless when on a lonely stretch heading South she comes under the scrutiny of a ne’er do well who dogs her life as she forges her way through constraints, just trying to live her life.

This is a wonderful, gentle novel that takes the reader back to an era of stoic hardship and repressive manners. Violet as a person is beautifully formed and I certainly rooted for her to cleave her way through these tough times. It started off fairly slowly which may lose some readers, but I found it engrossing to follow Violet’s life. I really wanted to know how things would turn out for her. You will learn much – and delightful learning it is too – about needlework and bell ringing and discover more about fylfots and Thomas Thetcher’s grave (who died of a violent fever contracted by drinking small beer when hot… in 1764).

As always, the author’s writing is eloquent, engaging and wonderfully observant of era and place, with tension and humour making this a very rounded and satisfying read. The author first came to my attention with Girl with the Pearl Earring which wonderfully evoked Delft in the 17th Century.

The author also shares with her readers at the end, that Keith Bain bought the privilege of having a character named after him (in the novel he is a friend of Arthur’s) at an auction to raise funds for Freedom From Torture.

Tracy Chevalier has turned her hand to more recent history in this novel, which is set in the 1930s. She’s written a story of social and domestic history as colourful and rich in detail as one of the kneelers her heroine sets out to create.

Violet Speedwell is a spinster of a certain age living independently in Winchester. She’s left the family home (and her overbearing mother) after her father has died, and we’re quickly given her family background: like so many of her generation, one of her brothers and her fiancé were lost in the Great War. Whilst Violet is steadfastly making a living as a typist in an insurance office (note that the girls had to share a heater between them, whilst their supervisor had one to himself), her loneliness leads to a chance encounter of the Cathedral Broderers and Violet’s life begins to transform.

Violet’s courage shines through at different points in the book. She’s not prepared to give up her life to accommodate others and understands that to help others she can’t lose herself in the process. Above all, this is a tale about true to oneself.

Violet Speedwell is one of many 'surplus women' since the Great War has killed so many young men. She herself lost both her fiance and her brother and is still mourning their loss. Fed up with living with her difficult and forever complaining mother, she moves to Winchester, where she becomes involved with a group of 'Broderes' who are embroidering the kneelers for the cathedral. She also befriends some of the bell-ringers and becomes interested in that as well.
She has to fight hard to keep her hard won independence, which may not make her likeable to everyone, but I liked her. Some aspects of the story felt rather less believable, it was always enjoyable. Not her best story, in my opinion, but worth a read.

*Thanks to Netgalley for a copy in return for an honest opinion*

Violet Speedwell is, like many other women after World War One, a spinster. Having escaped from her mother's house, she has moved to a rented room in Winchester and found a job, albeit one she finds rather dull. One day, she is passing the cathedral and notices a service of dedication for embroidered kneelers; intrigued, she goes along to one of the group's meetings and becomes a 'broderer'. Through the group, she meets more people and develops a social life in Winchester, meeting people who she would not have encountered had she remained in Southampton caring for her mother.
The 'thread' reflects her embroidery, but also the connections she makes and the path her life takes in the years leading up to World War Two.
This is a really good read, illustrating how many women's lives were changed by the immense death toll of the Great War.

I thank NetGally and The Borough Press (Harper Collins) for providing me an ARC copy of this novel, which I freely decided to review.
I only came to Chevalier’s books quite late (I hadn’t read any of her novels until I caught up with At the Edge of the Orchard, which I loved and whose review you can read here), but I’m fast becoming a fan of her way of bringing history to life and immersing us in worlds that many of us might know little or nothing of and managing to grab our attention and to teach us invaluable facts at the same time. This novel is no different. Although we revisit a historical period that is much closer than those she has visited in other books (the story takes place in the UK the early part of the XX century, in between wars), once we get into the story, we soon discover that things have changed more than we might realise. The social mores of the era seem light years away from ours (although perhaps not everywhere and not for everybody), and, although told in the third person through the eyes of the narrator, Violet Speedwell, we learn what being a single woman (‘a surplus woman’ as the novel explains) was like at the time.
Violet, the protagonist, is not the most glamorous and exciting character I’ve come across. She is not special in any way, and that is what makes her story particularly representative of the period. As she often observes, there were many women who had lost male relatives, husbands or fiancées (she lost her older brother and her fiancée) during the Great War, and this generation of women are struggling to find a place for themselves. Some might go on to marry, but others… what kind of life awaits them? Although the style of writing is completely different, the sharp social observations put me in mind of Jane Austen and her novels. (Of course, Jane Austen is buried at Winchester Cathedral, so it all seems to fit). Violet leads a life where she is always conscious of other people’s opinion, of what her mother will think, of what will happen to her in the future (will she end up having to go to live with her younger brother and become the spinster aunt to his children?), of whose company she keeps… And once she leaves her mother’s house and goes to work and live in Winchester, she even has to be careful of how much she eats, as her salary won’t allow for any luxuries or even a hot meal per day. She is far from a conformist and has her moments of rebellion (she has her sherry men), but she is not open-minded or up in arms, at least not when we first meet her. By chance (and due to her love for Winchester Cathedral, inherited from her father, the most significant person in her life) she discovers the broderers, a group of women dedicated to enhancing the cathedral with their embroidery (when you read the author’s note you discover that the group existed and its main character, Louisa Pestel, was a historical figure whose archives are now at the University of Leeds), and although she knows little of embroidery, the thought of making a contribution to such a building and leaving her mark drives her to join in. Although not all is goodwill and camaraderie in the group, it changes Violet’s life, and she and us, readers, meet many other characters that give the story its depth and a strong sense of place and historical truth.
I love the way the author introduces details of embroidery (needlepoint), bell ringing, the history of Winchester Cathedral, and even the landscape of the city and the surrounding area, into the novel seamlessly, without making us feel as if we were reading a touristic guide or a history book. (She brings together all the threads like a skilled embroiderer herself). She is also proficient at descriptions that enlighten without becoming repetitive or overbearing. I get the feeling that she would be an incredible teacher and she’s hold her students enraptured by her words, the same as she does her readers.
The characters are recognisable as types, but they manage to surprise us as well, and the little details she mentions about them and about their behaviours and reactions make them true and genuine, even those who don’t feature prominently in the story. As the story is told from Violet’s point of view we sometimes get biased opinions about the characters, but we also get to see how she changes her perspective when she gains a new understanding of what life might be like for others, and we share in her progressive enlightenment and her new (and more generous) view of things. By the end of the novel, Violet is a totally new person and her life has changed beyond all recognition. Is it a happy ending? Well, I guess it depends on your definition of happiness, but she’s sure come into her own, and I enjoyed it. Do read it and see what you think!
I thought I’d share a few quotes from the book, to give you an idea of what you might find. (I recommend you check a sample of the novel to see if it’s a good fit, and remind you that I accessed an ARC copy, so there might be some changes in the final published version).
Women always studied other women, and did so far more critically than men ever did.
An invisible web ran amongst the women, binding them fast to their common cause, whatever that might be.
It was expected of women like her —unwed and unlikely to— to look after their parents.
She was from an era when daughters were dutiful and deferential to their mothers, at least until they married and deferred to their husbands —not that Mrs Speedwell had ever deferred much to hers.
This is neither a page turner, nor a book for those who love non-stop action. There are adventures and surprises, but those are not earth-shattering but rather in keeping with the main character and her milieu. This is a story centred on the everyday life of a woman in the early 1930s in England, at a time when the country was starting to recover from a war, and people were already worried about the events taking place in Germany. It is a novel about how far women have come (at least in the West) or not, about how some things don’t change easily, about the small acts of rebellion and about finding your own place, about being creative in your own way (both the broderers and the bell ringers made me think of Alice Walker’s In Search of Our Mother’s Garden), and about ensuring your voice is heard. It is a novel of manners for the XXI Century, and much, much more. I was enchanted and entranced by it, and I recommend it to people interested in Women’s History, UK recent history, the social history of the interwar period, embroidery, bell-ringing, Winchester Cathedral, and good writing.