Eye-Opening Tale of Stitchers and Ringers

If you’ve ever taken up painting, playing a musical instrument or cross stitch, then you’ll know how utterly absorbing these activities can be.

In A Single Thread, Tracy Chevalier shows how engrossing yourself in an interest can also be a form of salvation.

A Single ThreadIt’s embroidery that comes to the rescue for the protagonist, Violet Speedwell. It rescues her from a life where her only choices are to stay at home with her over-bearing embittered mother or live hand-to-mouth in a draughty boarding house and drudge each day as a typist.

Violet is what the newspapers of the 1930s labelled a “surplus woman”: unmarried and likely to remain so because vast numbers of eligible men died during World War 1. The war was a double tragedy for Violet, both her fiancée and brother having fallen at Passchendale. She is still mourning their loss 16 years later.

Desperate to get away from the stultifying atmosphere of home, she moves to Winchester to take up a secretarial job. But still she feels she is living only half a life.

“I felt as if I were in a deep hole that took me so long to climb out of. It was as if I were sleepwalking, awake but unable to say anything or do anything to make my life come to to life again.”

It isn’t until she visits the cathedral and discovers the broderers, a group of women creating intricate canvas embroidery for kneelers and cushions, that she finds fulfilment and friendship.

Under the mentorship of the group’s founder Louisa Pesel, Violet flourishes. Her nights at the boarding house are no longer an ordeal when she has her stitches to practice. She gains the confidence to negotiate higher wages from her employer and to handle her mother’s demands. Romance beckons in the shape of a bell ringer at the cathedral, though it’s a forbidden love since Arthur Knight is already married.


A Celebration of Stitches
The story is reasonable though ideally I would have preferred more drama and greater variety in pace. The elements did exist. For example, there’s a stalker who accosts Violet in a field and again near the Cathedral one dark night (no prizes for guessing who comes to her rescue!).

There’s also tension within the borderers because of one member who’s very bossy. And we have a lesbian love affair that raises eyebrows in the ultra conservative cloistered world of Winchester.

Unfortunately they all seem to fizzle out too quickly.

But I’ll forgive Tracy Chevalier because there were two aspects of this novel that were simply wonderful.

This is a writer who can take an artist or a great work of art and pluck from her research a story of its creation that is rich in detail and historically accurate. A Girl In A Pearl Earring opened up the world of Vermeer and a later novel, The Lady and the Unicorn, delved into the world of tapestry weavers in sixteenth century Brussels.

In A Single Thread she turns her attention to the work of Broderers’ Guild in Winchester. The members took inspiration from the Cathedral’s medieval tiles; using cross, tent and rice stitches to form intricate patters of medallions, Celtic knots, trees of life and flowers. The kneelers, cushions and alms bags had a practical purpose – they were used everyday by the congregation and clergy – but they also wanted them to be beautiful, as befitting the grandeur of the Cathedral.

A Single Thread

Tracy Chevalier shows how this is a painstaking exercise, demanding precision and attention to detail but get it right and the canvas comes alive. As Violet discovers:

“…once you were skilled enough, you could settle into it and empty your mind of all but the work in front of you. Life then boiled down to a row of blue stitches that became a long braid across the canvas, or a sunburst of red that became a flower. “

It’s hardly surprising that Violet finds stitching more satisfying than typing contracts.

I’ve tried tapestry work myself and would have loved Louisa Pesel as a tutor. I doubt however that my work would be anywhere near the standard of those cathedral stitchers. But I’d have more of a chance at proficiency in embroidery than I would at bell ringing.

Ringing the Changes
I’m rather like Violet when she has her first introduction to ringing:

“She could not make out any pattern in these bells ≠ though each was clearly struck they seemed to clatter over each other in no particular order. Yet they were deliberate, not chaotic. It was like listening to people speaking German and sensing there was a grammar and structure, a rhythm and logic to it, even if you could not understand the meaning. “

Arthur tries to explain:

“We start by ringing the five bells down the scale, one after the other. These are called rounds. Then we switch the order of two of the bells, so that each sequence of bells is different from the last. We call them changes. One of the rules of change-ringing is that no sequence is repeated.”

It’s all to do with maths apparently and something called factorials. Don’t ask me to explain; I can only just cope with fractions and equations. I suppose the only way to really understand what’s going on is to climb up into a bell tower and watch the ringers in action. I wonder whether Tracy Chevalier did that as part of her research? Since I’m highly unlikely to summon up enough courage to climb so high I shall just learn to appreciate the magnificence of the sound that comes out of that tower.

There’s no doubt that this is a highly readable book with some interesting characters (I loved the depiction of Violet’s mum) and fascinating historical detail.

A Single Thread: Fast Facts
A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier will be published by The Borough Press in September 2019. My copy was provided by the publishers in exchange for a balanced review.
Louisa Pesel is a real person. She was the first President of the Embroiderers’ Guild of England in 1920.
Jane Austen is buried in Winchester Cathedral,She has a modest gravestone whose inscription records her personal virtues and stoicism, but makes no mention of her writing.

Violet is one of the 'spare women' left over after the first world war with no fiance and no prospect of a husband. It is now the 1930s though and women are slowly gaining some independence. Violet is determined to have her own life - not to be forced to stay with her vicious mother, moving to Winchester is her solution. A typist job gives her a tiny income that means she can live on fish paste sandwiches and little entertainment. Until she visits the cathedral and stumbles upon the Cathedral broderers. They make the kneelers and cushions for the cathedral and amongst them violet finds friends, advice and a purpose.

If you've read any books about the spare spinsters there is normally sympathy for this left generation of women. Chevalier depicts the other problems - judging from other women, being seen as a threat or as a victim, the assumption that you will look after whoever needs you as you have no purpose as a single woman. Violet succeeds in making a life for herself but it is not without controversy.

I've always liked the way Chevalier takes an object or person from history and weaves a fictional story around them. In this case the kneelers at Winchester cathedral are central to the story and the women who make them. Women like Violet.

A Single Thread follows Violet as she navigates her way through life following the death of her fiancé Laurence. Set after the First World War , the location for this novel is mainly Winchester and features the broderers of Winchester cathedral and their bell ringers. The reader is given a wonderful insight into not only the history of the broderers but also what it meant to be an unmarried woman in this era. It’s quite hard to appreciate how little freedom a woman like Violet had and the constraints society placed upon such individuals. Simply to be out on a walking holiday, alone, as Violet does at one point, was deemed unusual. Relationships between two women were definitely frowned upon but love and friendship is at the heart of this gentle novel, whether it be love between a man and a woman, between two women or the friendship between women united by a certain task.
I loved Violet’s character, for her bravery in the face of the death of her fiancé and her resilience in escaping from the confines of her mother’s home, despite facing hardship in renting a room and going without proper meals because of her meagre wages. Her typing job is mundane and
everyone needs to find solace in this world, something that can take them away from everyday life and for Violet this is embroidery. She shows an interest in helping these women and quickly becomes enveloped in their circle . Whilst I can’t pretend to know anything about this subject, the author has clearly done a great deal of research in this area. To be honest I did find the passages that went into great detail about kneelers and cushions rather tedious but overall didn’t detract too much from my enjoyment of the novel. I can appreciate the history behind the story of the broderers of Winchester cathedral and the bell ringing aspect I found fascinating. Aside from the history, A single thread is a love story between Violet and Arthur, a married man and bell ringer at the cathedral whom Violet first meets through Gilda, one of the broderers. However, it is a forbidden love and can never be truly be acted upon though Arthur proves to. be a true friend to Violet, even accompanying her part way on her walking holiday and allowing her to have a brief lesson in bell ringing. The author describes beautifully Violet’s resignation and understanding of her predicament and there is no self pity, just a determination to soldier on and the eventual resolution of this situation is heartwarming, wonderful and hopeful. I thoroughly enjoyed following Violet’s journey through these hard times and felt like I was walking beside her when she embarked on her solo walking holiday through the countryside, determined to enjoy her life.
For me, the author expertly captures the essence of the era and with all the meticulous research deserves to have a best seller on her hands. This is a perfect read if you love history and serves as a pleasant antidote to all those psychological thrillers on the market. This is most definitely worth a read and my thanks goes to the author and the publisher as well as Netgalley for allowing me to read ahead of publication.

Violet lost her brother and fiance during the Great War. Her father has since died and she lives with her mother. She feels stifled. Against her mother's and her remaining brother's wishes to transfers to Winchester, into lodgings with other women. she is drawn to the cathedral and soon becomes involved with the society of broderers. These are women who embroider kneelers and cushions for the cathedral. She finds friendship and support within the group and when her way of life is threatened is she strong enough to live her life as she wants?
This is a lovely , well written book of women's independence after the first world war and of friendship and hope.

This was an ok book.
The beginning and the ending of the book were slow but the middle of the book was good
All in all an average read

This is the first book that I’ve read by Tracy Chevalier. It had me hooked right from the very start. I love needlework of all types, so was very interested in this novel. It’s so well written and I really liked Violet as a character. For those not interested in needlework, some of it may be too detailed, but I absolutely loved it. I also have a musical background, so the detailed information on the bell ringing I also found fascinating. The relationship between Violet and Arthur was charming. I really did enjoy this book.

From the very beginning of A Single Thread, with its vivid description of Winchester Cathedral (cue a trip down a rabbit hole online to look at plans of the cathedral), I was caught up in this story. I felt for the outsider Violet with her constrained life. I know little about the inter-war period but the relationships and reactions to loss rang true. The descriptions of embroidery and bellringing stayed just the right side of exposition. The end came a little too soon for me and I can’t decide whether I found the tied ends of the resolution satisfying or frustrating.

One of Tracy Chevalier's previous books -The Last Runaway- was the beginning of my now, fairly established, hobby of patchwork and sewing. So, I was pleased to see that she had centred a lot of the interaction between her characters around the broderer's group at Winchester Cathedral. Though I have no time to add this to my list of 'spare time' activities, the evident research and Chevalier's thoroughness, offered a unique and empathetic window onto the experiences of women who came together at that time.

As a consequence of the huge number of men lost in WW1 (including her own brother and fiancee), at 38, Violet Speedwell is one the 'surplus' women who were left behind with little purpose or independence. Furthermore, they offered an unwelcome and somewhat embarrassing reminder of the catastrophic events which had so recently occurred. Unwilling to remain trapped at home with her disillusioned mother, Violet (breaking uncomfortably with convention) strikes out on her own and moves away from Southampton, thus freeing herself from the claustrophobic expectations of family life and spinsterhood. Through the people she meets at the cathedral and work, she creates an independent existence, though not without difficulty.

A good read, there was plenty happening in the story to keep up the momentum, but at no point did I find myself gripped. Violet's love interest seemed both foolish and unlikely; aside from the fact that she only seemed to have to think about Arthur and he would magically appear! I was also thrown by the unlikeliness of the strange stalker character; whilst her brother's gruff public school-boy manner ("It's hard work with three kiddies.") was jarring.

My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for issuing me with an advance copy of the book.

What a lovely evocative story about women and their roll in society between the wars. Tracy Chevalier deals compassionately with all the characters that do conform to the norm.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

I would call A Single Thread, an easy but good read, well written . There aren't any real surprises or twists in the story. Violet is a woman, in the 1930's, who has to make a life for herself, when she finds herself alone after having lost her fiancee. She has very little money, but is resourceful and makes a brave decision to leave the comfort of home and move on by herself.

The book is very well written, but for me, there was just too much time spent on the broderers, and bell ringing. I kept thinking the story would move on, but it didn't. I have to confess I skimmed quite a lot of the book, looking for something different.

I read Tracy Chevalier‘s Girl With a Pearl Earring when I was very young. I found myself enchanted with her effortless prose and gentle human relationships. As with that first novel, A Single Thread unfurled slowly, the plot strangely captivating. I still cannot quite understand what exactly it is I love about Chevalier‘s writing.

Both of the novels I read seem decorated with things I do not normally share an interest in. In the first it was baroque art, religion in 1600s Delft, early photography, etc. In this new novel, I find myself enchanted by embroidery, bellringing, and 1930s sensibilities.

I am especially fond of the inclusion of LGBT themes, and the loneliness and desolation felt after the Great War. All in all, a slow but beautiful read.

I loved this book! I was very excited to have the opportunity to read a new Tracy Chevalier novel as I have so enjoyed her others. A Single Thread is a fascinating read with an unforgettable main character, Violet Speedwell. Breaking away from the demands of an unpleasable mother, Violet makes a new life for herself in Winchester. This isn’t easy for a ‘spinster’ in the 1930s but Violet keeps going, despite setbacks, and finds some friends amongst the broderers at the cathedral. I had no interest in embroidery or bell ringing before I read A Single Thread but the author writes so beautifully and knowledgeably about both that I was completely drawn in. I found it easy to warm to Violet and several times had a tear in my eye when life didn’t treat her well. But Violet is a survivor living in fascinating times and I couldn’t put this book down. I finished it at 5am today and am now feeling a bit lost without it (and tired - but it was worth it!)

I've enjoyed all of Tracy Chevalier's books so far; this one however resonated slightly less with me than some of the others. It could be that the themes of embroidering kneelers for the church and the intricacies of bell ringing didn't appeal to me so much but that's not to say they won't appeal to other readers. On the other hand, the main character's determination to seek out an independent life for herself in what was still a very patriarchal society really caught my imagination. It's hard to believe just how difficult it must have been for a young single woman. The writing is as smooth and eloquent as ever so whilst I didn't love this book, I certainly liked it.

This story is set in the early 1930s and the changed lives of those left behind after the First World War – the soldiers who came home, the mothers of those who didn’t, the loss of loved ones and women adjusting back to “normal” life in what is still very much a man’s world.
The story focuses on a young woman called Violet Speedwell - now in her mid-thirties, Violet lost a fiancé during the war, and is one of the “surplus spinsters“. She moves from Southampton to Winchester to escape an overbearing mother, but life is not as idyllic as she’d hoped. Struggling to make ends meet on her meagre typists wage, and living in a boarding house that is far from salubrious, Violet eventually finds friendship within the Cathedral Broderers group - a group of women embroidering cushions and kneelers for the cathedral
The characters are well written and relatable and it was refreshing to see the inclusion of individuals who refused to follow convention & to see how their little ripples would eventually change society.

From the details of the embroidery, to the intricacies of church bellringing, the book has been incredibly well researched and the descriptions make you want to visit Winchester Cathedral - I am also sure that I am not the only reader to have looked up the unusual pyramid at Nether Wallop as a result of reading this book!

There are no major twists or big surprises in this book yet the story is well developed and there is enough interest to keep you wanting to read to the end. Discovering that parts of it were based on a true story was more of a gentle reveal of a little secret than a shocking surprise as it was so real, so engaging, so unusual yet detailed...
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will definitely be actively searching for more novels by this author.

Disclosure: I received an advance read a copy of this book free via NetGalley. All opinions on my own.

This author seems to write books with me in mind, I have interests in Quakerism, Vermeer, needlework, and this one is set in Winchester where I live. So I was immediately drawn into the story since nearly every location is somewhere I have visited.
Fourteen years after the First World War, the country appears to have moved on, with young men and women meeting and becoming couples. But there are parents who mourn their lost sons, and women whose lovers never came back. The protagonist of the novel is one of these ′surplus women′ and although she has joined the workforce as a typist, and moved out of her mother′s house in Southampton to live in lodgings in Winchester, there is still an underlying melancholy and desperateness to her impoverished life.
The story starts a few months after her move to Winchester and the opening scene is set in the beauty of the cathedral, with a first glimpse of the embroidered kneelers that will change her life. As the book progresses she finds new interests, friends and more income. Money is an important consideration for her, she barely has enough to pay her rent and feed herself, so food is as richly described as the colours of the embroidery. The author tends to keep strictly to the viewpoint of the protagonist in the novels of her′s that I have read. Sometimes this leaves you wanting to learn more about other characters, but it does immerse you in the life of Violet. The grey misery of her life can be depressing to read at first, but you jare uplifted by her happiness as life improves. It is a small town (city) life with minor dramas which seem large to her, nothing earth-shattering, but her life at the end of the book is completely changed.
The historical background and location of the book seems very accurate, but no one who has walked up Romsey Road between the hospital and the gaol would describe it as gradual!

I really enjoyed this book. Violet is one of the "leftover" women, the 2 million or so women who are single due to the effects of the Great War. She lives a penniliess existence, having broken free from her mother's stultifying house and moved a few towns away to Winchester and a joyless boading house managing on her meagre wages from typing up insurance forms in an office. At 38 she is thought of as "middle aged", too old for marriage and living in poverty (fish paste or marmite snadwiches for lunch and beans or sardine on toast for dinner) as womens wages are way below those of men. She wanders into the Cathedral to enjoy the peace and the colourful windows one afternoon when she finds herself in the midst of a ceremony dedicating beautiul, bold coloured new petit point kneelers made by "broderers", volunteer women stitchers. Looking for friendship and something to do that will show she "was here" (the kneelers have the initials of the maker stitched into them) Violet reolves to join the borderers. Here she makes friends with two younger women who have a "very close" relationship that is causing aprobation in the sewing circle. She is taken under the wing of Louisa Pesel (a real life chracter who oversaw the mammoth task of producing kneelers, altar cloths, bench cushions, alms purses etc for the cathedral) and meets a bell ringer, an older man called Arthur wiyh whom she satrts an emotional affair. However, going on a short walking holiday on her in the area she becomes aware of the menancing presence of a local farmer who starts to stalk her.

This book really delves into the vibrancy of the petit point work the women are doing, dreamed up by Lousia Pesel. Stitches are described and explained. Arthur's bell ringing is also described in great detail, as is the architecture of the Cathedral and the surrounding countryside. The sense of foreboding when you suspect someone is following you is described to a tee as is the disdain that others treat you with when you are a "spinster". I read this book in a few large chunks as it really gripped me. It also inspired me to look up images of the borderers work (which is currently being repaired and cleaned) and Louisa Pesel's books on embroidery. I really fancy taking a trip to Winchester now to check it all out. One of those books you don't want to end. If you are interested in life between the Wars, especially for women then this will really suit you, even, if like me, you thought you had little interest in embrodery or bell ringing.

A Single Thread, Tracy Chevalier

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: General Fiction.

I enjoyed this, didn't love it and skim read a few parts where it dragged but on the whole its a story I really liked.
I loved Violet, so typical of the time, with her fiance killed during the war, and like so many other ladies of her age, she's become almost an outlier in a society where women are brought up to be wives and mothers. What can they do though, there's a huge shortage of men due to the war, and yet these poor ladies don't have a real place in society through no fault of their own?
Life was a struggle for Violet, she tried so hard to find her own place in the world, keep her independence, it was a constant balance trying to eke out enough money to survive.

The story was so typical of the time, at points such as when her employer is bemoaning the fact the he employs typists, mainly a female occupation, and yet too often they leave to get married or look after aging parents. Violet has to work hard to stay out of that trap, when her mother is ill, her brother expects her to leave her job, home, the life she's carefully crafted as of course he has his family to look after, so naturally Violet should do the caring. Its how women were perceived then ( and very often still...). It was hard for her to stand against that but somehow she manages to work things so she can keep her little bit of independence.

The war and the losses it caused, the people who survived but with problems, the grieving parents, the ladies left single in a society geared up for couples, this book really brought all that forward. Then of course there's the broderers, the ladies embroidering hassocks and cushions for the cathedral. I've never really thought much about that but it was interesting reading, about how the patterns were chosen, and the importance of the stitching in making something lasting. I found that part inspiring, how something so everyday can take on such an important part of life. I enjoyed the history we learned through it too.
Then of course the relationships, how as I said its all couples that are the norm, heterosexual ones, and how suspicious anyone outside that was treated. The difficulties of loving outside that narrow remit, the way at the end Violet's actions caused even her own family to distance themselves from her.
She had a tough life, but found a way to work through it, to live and enjoy it, with the help of a few close friends, even though she went against the strictures of behaviours that were set at that time



Stars: Four, a fascinating read, bring in life in a very personal way.

Arc via Netgalley and publishers

A Single Thread is a charming story but for me a little odd. I found the lead character somewhat irritating and the description of her various relationships and occupations unconvincing. The Girl with a Pearl Earring was much more to my taste.

Great fiction on the women conditions after the first World War. Interesting and touching story, I strongly recommend this book. as usual Tracy Chevalier managed with success to make us time travel.

Set in the early 1930s, after WW1, this book explores the impact the war had on peoples lives and the social changes that came after. This is an era where homophobia is rife since same-sex is illegal and citizens are living in a post-war depression. Women's lives have changed forever and yet since they outnumber men, so many men having been killed, many women are spinsters with no hope of finding marriage. This leaves them with few choices, stay at home and live with their parents or leave and live in a boarding house on a barely living wage.
The setting is Winchester and the beautiful cathedral which comes alive with the authors writing and is almost a character in itself.
This is a well-researched book, beautifully written with immersive storytelling due to the depth of all the characters.