If there was a song to accompany this book, it would be Parry's Jerusalem. Throughout this wonderfully nostalgic book I was humming 'this green and pleasant land'. Set in Winchester, with the Cathedral at its heart, it was wonderfully languorous and a perfect weekend read. It's 1932 and our heroine, Violet, moves to Winchester after a series of losses. She feels adrift and is drawn to the Cathedral as a place of solace. Here she joins the broderers group, headed by Louisa Pesel, who are embroidering kneelers and cushions. (It was lovely to discover that Louisa Pesel was a real character, as was the embroidery project, and the kneelers and cushions can be seen in Winchester Cathedral to this day). Joining this group leads to friendships and Violet discovers that sewing calms her mind in a way nothing else ever has. This book deals with issues such as loss, grief and forbidden love in a sensitive and well-researched manner. Violet and Arthur are drawn to one another, but their relationship can never progress beyond a friendship. They do however, share one moment together which leads to the birth of Iris, who brings joy to Violet and a contentment that she has sought but never thought she would find. There is also the wonderful relationship between Dorothy and Gilda that is proof that love can conquer all. A Single Thread is a beautifully written story that is the perfect escape from the non-stop information overload of the 21st century. Pour yourself a cuppa, cut yourself a piece of cake, and enjoy.

A Single Thread is a moving historical novel, set in post-First World War England. It is 1932, and although it has been several years now since the end of the war, its lasting effects linger over everyone. The war particularly hangs over the life of our central character Violet, who tragically lost both her brother and her fiancee in the war. Violet has just moved away from home in Southampton, determined to make her own way in a new town, Winchester. But things are not easy for Violet – she’s an unmarried woman struggling to feed herself and pay her rent, convince her boss she is capable, and ignore the disapproval radiating from her mother.

Violet finds some solace in joining the broderers, a group of women who have embarked on a mammoth project to embroider kneelers and cushions for Winchester Cathedral. Violet is originally drawn to this group for the opportunity to make a mark, by leaving a small piece of herself in this historical building that will endure for centuries to come. But through joining this group she connects with people from her new hometown, who begin to fill her life, and the plot of the novel.

Violet is such a likeable and strong central character – hers is a quiet but steady strength. She doesn’t find it easy to fight the expectations society has of women, but fight she does, day by day, through small acts of defiance. This is an era where society held women in a particularly tough bind. On the one hand, traditional conventions hold fast – women are expected to marry, then stay at home to take care of their families and households. But at the same time, the war has changed the very fabric of society – for many women, like Violet, their finances and sweethearts never returned from the battlefields. Not only that, but the women themselves have changed – they have been fighting their own battles on the home front, adapting to a whole host of different roles and lives.

A Single Thread is extremely well crafted; all the different colours and threads a woven together to create this beautiful story. Violet, our very own ‘single thread’ is such a refreshing character from this era to read out, and it is a pure joy to watch her grow throughout the novel. Chevalier’s writing evokes such care for Violet, as well as a really striking sense of place and history – it’s a beautiful novel through and through.

The author convincingly depicts the details of daily life in the 1930s and, in particular, the challenges faced by women like Violet struggling to survive on a meagre income (for example, making a choice between a hot meal, more coal on the fire or a treat such as a trip to the cinema) and facing open prejudice at work because of their gender and unmarried status, whether from necessity or inclination. For example, the unquestioned assumption that they will at some point either give up work to marry or care for elderly relatives.

When Violet Speedwell joins the Winchester Cathedral broderers it introduces her, and I suspect many other readers, to a new vocabulary: long-armed cross, rice, upright gobelin amongst others. It also allows the reader to encounter some fascinating characters such as the impressive Miss Pesel and the rather fearsome Mrs. Biggins. The observation that "a leader comfortable with her authority does not need to be strident" is entirely on point when it comes to the latter. With the author's customary insight, the relationships between the broderers, their petty prejudices and attitudes to those who, in their view, do not conform to social norms are laid bare.

Outside the circle of the broderers, and in much the same vein, there's Violet's budgie-loving landlady, Mrs Harvey, who assiduously guards the coal supply and carefully vets visitors to the boarding house. And there's Violet's mother, the domineering Mrs. Speedwell, who always seems to have a put down for her daughter within easy reach but who becomes a more sympathetic figure later in the book, albeit after a little 'taming'.

I liked the touching relationship that develops between Violet and Winchester Cathedral bell-ringer, Arthur Knight. They are both, in different ways, lonely people who find comfort in each other's company and conversation but recognize the seeming impossibility of something more. You wouldn't naturally think that sharing the experience of bell ringing or examining embroidered kneelers could create a sense of intimacy but the author manages it. The impending threat of a second world war, when many are still struggling to cope with the impact of the first one, is cleverly introduced through the media of both embroidery and bell-ringing. I also liked the way the concentration required to execute both skills is presented as a beneficial distraction from other worries.

I warmed to Violet for her efforts to do good, such as the attention she pays to her niece Marjory or her attempts to help her fellow broderers, Gilda and Dorothy, even if her efforts do not always succeed. And I applauded her desire for independence (a 'life of sorts', as she puts it) even if that does bring with it a conflict between loyalty to family and personal fulfilment.

There was only one rather melodramatic, albeit minor, element of the storyline that didn't work for me; it felt misplaced and out of character with the rest of the book. Other than that I really enjoyed immersing myself in the atmosphere of the inter-war period the author so vividly recreates in A Single Thread. And, as a bonus, I now know a lot more than I did before about embroidery and bell-ringing although not enough, I suspect, to demonstrate competence in either. The final chapters of the book left me uplifted and satisfied in equal measure.

I really loved this book, and did not want Violet’s story to end. It is a gentle story, describing a time, 1932, between the wars, when so many women were consigned to spinsterhood and a life of drudgery by the loss of their husbands or sweethearts in the Great War. It also describes the very different attitudes towards single women that prevailed at that time. They were expected to stay at home to shoulder the burden of caring for an aging or frail parent, something that was never be expected of a single brother, or a married daughter.

Violet manages to escape from the clutches of her overbearing and demanding mother by moving from Southampton to Winchester, existing on a pittance and in poor lodgings.
Her determination and strength of will to overcome the hand that fate has dealt her are admirable. I found myself rooting for Violet during her hard won admission into the closed shop of Winchester Cathedral broderers, where she finds a purpose in life, a camaraderie amongst her fellow embroiderers, and the unexpected patronage of the lady who is the driving force behind this group of women. Louisa Pesel. This part is based on the true story of Louisa Pesel, who was in real life responsible for the beautiful stitchwork still evident in Winchester Cathedral.

This strand of the story made me wish to visit the Cathedral, and Winchester itself.

This is a beautifully written story of its time, but the author does not shy away from the grittier aspects of life then. We encounter the class divide, misogyny, homophobia and the terrors of a vulnerable woman being stalked by a predatory male, all issues still causing concern in present times.

The strong characterisation of Violet and her family and friends brought them to life for me, and I was sorry to reach the bittersweet end of Violet’s story. Because in truth it was just beginning.

My thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book. I will look for more of Tracy Chevalier’s work.

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.

I don't know exactly what I was expecting but I just couldn't get into this book,I'm unsure why as many have rated it very highly. Thank you netgalley for giving me the chance to read it.

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.