A Single Thread

by Tracy Chevalier

It is 1932, and the losses of the First World War are still keenly felt. Violet Speedwell, mourning for both her fiancé and her brother and regarded by society as a ‘surplus woman’ unlikely to marry, resolves to escape her suffocating mother and strike out alone.

A new life awaits her in Winchester. Yes, it is one of draughty boarding-houses and sidelong glances at her naked ring finger from younger colleagues; but it is also a life gleaming with independence and opportunity. Violet falls in with the broderers, a disparate group of women charged with embroidering kneelers for the Cathedral, and is soon entwined in their lives and their secrets. As the almost unthinkable threat of a second Great War appears on the horizon Violet collects a few secrets of her own that could just change everything…

Warm, vivid and beautifully orchestrated, A Single Thread reveals one of our finest modern writers at the peak of her powers.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Audiobook, Book Club, British Literature, Romance

352 pages, Hardcover

First published September 5, 2019

About the author

Born:
19 October 1962 in Washington, DC. Youngest of 3 children. Father was a photographer for The Washington Post.

Childhood:
Nerdy. Spent a lot of time lying on my bed reading. Favorite authors back then: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Madeleine L’Engle, Zilpha Keatley Snyder, Joan Aiken, Susan Cooper, Lloyd Alexander. Book I would have taken to a desert island: Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.

Education:
BA in English, Oberlin College, Ohio, 1984. No one was surprised that I went there; I was made for such a progressive, liberal place.

MA in creative writing, University of East Anglia, Norwich, England, 1994. There’s a lot of debate about whether or not you can be taught to write. Why doesn’t anyone ask that of professional singers, painters, dancers? That year forced me to write all the time and take it seriously.

Geography:
Moved to London after graduating from Oberlin in 1984. I had studied for a semester in London and thought it was a great place, so came over for fun, expecting to go back to the US after 6 months to get serious. I’m still in London, and still not entirely serious. Even have dual citizenship – though I keep the American accent intact.

Family:
1 English husband + 1 English son.

Career:
Before writing, was a reference book editor, working on encyclopedias about writers. (Yup, still nerdy.) Learned how to research and how to make sentences better. Eventually I wanted to fix my own sentences rather than others’, so I quit and did the MA.

Writing:
Talked a lot about becoming a writer as a kid, but actual pen to paper contact was minimal. Started writing short stories in my 20s, then began first novel, The Virgin Blue, during the MA year. With Girl With a Pearl Earring (written in 1998), I became a full-time writer.

Reviews

[Paromjit · Rating 4 out of 5]

In A Single Thread, Tracy Chevalier paints a richly detailed picture of history and social change in England in the inter war years, set in the beautiful location of Winchester, with its magnificent cathedral. In a well researched character driven story, it is 1932, 38 year old Violet Speedwell is deemed to be one of the 'surplus' women, a consequence of the huge numbers of men lost in WW1, women who are both pitied and feared. She is still feeling the loss of her fiance and her brother in the war, stifled by a difficult and suffocating mother. She saves up, moving to Winchester, living an impoverished existence in a lodging house and working as a typist. On a visit to the Cathedral, there is a ceremony for the 'broderers', her interest is captured by the embroidered kneelers. She joins the group of women, that includes the real life Louise Pessel.

As she immerses her life in embroidery, she finds so much more than she could ever have expected. She discovers an inner fulfillment, support, friendship and community, along with secets, whilst feeling drawn to a married bellringer, Arthur. She becomes more aware of who she is, and what she is good at. Chevalier goes into incredible detail on the craft of embroidery and campanology, in a slow moving but involving narrative. Violet is a strong, determined, flawed woman, resilient, as despite the challenges she and other women face, she is intent on shaping her life into what she wants it to be, refusing to be defined by others. There are all the issues often associated with small communities, small minded individuals, gossip, judgementalism, and prejudice.

Amidst a horizon that hints of another world war, we are given a snapshot of this particular historical period, people and place, with beautiful descriptions of the location. The novel touches on issues of the position of women, of sexuality, of being an unmarried mother, of the importance of friendships, of identity, family, of love and art. This is not a book for those looking for a fast paced read, this is more one to savour, and engage in the characters and the Winchester Cathedral community in the 1930s. This is for those who love character driven historical fiction, particularly of this era. Many thanks to HarperCollins for an ARC.

[Ceecee · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a world that increasingly appears to have gone mad this book is a soothing, calming balm! This story is understated, gentle and about a bye gone age when societies rules and foibles are usually strictly obeyed. Tracy Chevalier is an author who can create a picture, a character and an atmosphere with the appearance of effortlessness and that takes great skill and understanding of your craft. The main character is Violet Speedwell and the era is the 1930’s, the setting is principally beautiful Winchester and much of the focus is on the cathedral. Violet is a lovely character although the book has a number of great characters, some who are very likeable (Tom, Arthur, Miss Pesel etc) and some less likeable such as Violet’s moaning Minnie of a mother. Violet has known great sadness as her fiancé and brother were killed in the Great War but she is trying to get her life back on track and the Winchester Broderers and Bell Ringing are key to that recovery. I found the embroidery aspect fascinating (though I have zero ability with a needle being totally cack handed!) and a lot of this aspect of the book is grounded in fact, Miss Pesel existed and was in charge of the designs and much of the work referred to can still be seen in the cathedral. I especially loved that and this is something that Tracy Chevalier frequently does in her books.

I like the gentle humour and there are some lovely and absurd stories that are so ridiculously English - eccentricity coming fairly easy! There are moments of menace too and Violet shows just how self possessed she could be at times of threat. Society of the time is well depicted too especially peoples attitudes to same sex relationships and unmarried mothers although some characters refuse to bow to the conventions of the day. There is unrequited love but healing too as Violet is able to move on from her losses and in her own inimitable way finds solace. The ending of the book is lovely and optimistic albeit with the spectre of Hitler hanging over the world.

Tracy Chevalier is a wonderful author, I’ve read all of her books so it was a privilege to receive an early copy of this book. Thanks to NetGalley and HarperFiction.
Publication Date 5th September

[Angela M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Violet inadvertently walks into the Winchester Cathedral during a ceremony for the “broderers” and is taken with the embroidered kneelers. I was not and the first part of the book was a trudge for me. I was bored. I kept reading, though, because I admired how Violet asserted her independence and moves away from her constantly complaining mother. I felt for her - alone and barely making enough for room and breakfast, frequently skipping a meal and still after years is grieving the loss of her fiance, her brother in the Great War. She was considered one of “Surplus Women “. (Surplus women is a phrase coined during the Industrial Revolution referring to a perceived excess of unmarried women in Britain.” Wikipedia). The middle part of the book was better and I liked the descriptions of the bell ringing and Violet’s growing relationships . While I get what Chevalier seems to be portraying here, the challenges of these women in society in general, the workplace and even in their families, the delivery of the story fell short for me, felt a bit contrived at times. In spite of this, I think it’s worthy of three stars because as I mentioned I admired Violet and some of the other women in the broderers group, and their coming together in friendship made for a good ending.

I read this with Diane and Esil. This has been rated higher by a number of reviewers, so we may be outliers here.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Viking through Edelweiss.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite having neither the temperament nor the talent to actively engage in the fiber arts, I have always had an interest in them. My forays into the world of knitting and needlepoint have resulted in frustration and, I sheepishly admit, swearing like a sailor. We have a world renowned art museum here which has many fine examples on display so I content myself with viewing textiles, tapestries and so on rather than actively taking part. In this novel, embroidery (needlepoint) provides a spinster with a way to connect with other women and leave her mark upon the world in the form of decorative kneelers for the cathedral in Winchester. Patterns of bell ringing at the cathedral also play a prominent role. Although one incident rang false to me, this is a charming and delightful historical novel filled with women struggling to come into their own, forging a future, and casting off society’s definitions of what it meant to be an independent, single female between the two world wars.

[Diane S ☔]

DNF at 50%. Feel awful because this is my monthly read with Esil and Angela. This for me is one of those books that one neither hates nor likes.. It is just stagnant. If you like embroidery or hell ringers you might have better luck. it is missing a spark, just too much yada yada.

[TXGAL1 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fabric of Violet Speedwell’s life begins to feel worn. It is 1932 and as a 38 year-old woman, under the controlling needs of her negative,widowed mother, Violet finally decides to take her life into her own hands and moves from Southampton to Winchester—at the disappointment of brother Tom and sister-in-law Evelyn.

World War I has left her bereft after the loss of her eldest brother, George, and fiancé Laurence. With the recent death of her beloved father, Violet feels one loss too many. Without her father to be the buffer between Violet and her mother, Violet is desperate to get away and discover a new life for herself.

In Winchester, Violet finds a bare-bones place to live in Mrs. Harvey’s rooming house and is soon hired as a typist for an insurance company. Life is a struggle as a “surplus woman”. It is assumed that all women want to have a husband and family, therefore, no need for a job with a living wage. These women, unfortunately, are alone because their generation’s potential husbands have died as a result of World War I. There are 1.75 million more women than men after the Great War—hence, “surplus women”.

Violet is without friends or family in Winchester. She begins to stitch the new borders of her life around her job, her home, the new-found Winchester Cathedral Broderers and its new purpose, and the new friendships that result. Each thread of these new relationships helps to reinforce and steady the fabric of Violet’s new life.

A SINGLE THREAD is my first Tracey Chevalier book to read. The research into the subject matter for this historical fiction is well done. I’ve never been one clever enough for beautiful needlecraft, but I certainly feel as though I’ve learned a lot about Louisa Pesel and her exquisite contribution to this art.

I felt that all of the characters were well-written and that they made the story come alive. At times the pacing was slowed, but I attribute this to the time and place.

Thank you to Viking/Random House for the ARC of A SINGLE THREAD in exchange for an honest review. Its expected release date is September 17, 2019.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

"A story is like building a chapel; A novel is a cathedral." (Rosario Ferre)

Tracy Chevalier centers A Single Thread around the majesty of the Cathedral in Winchester with its mighty presence and its abundant history. Winchester Cathedral becomes the focal point of what has occured in the past in its community and what is transpiring in early May of 1932.

Winchester still bears the scars of World War I in which loss sits heavily at the elbow of family upon family. Young men left the township in droves only to return shattered in mind and body or not at all. Violet Speedwell feels the hollowness of fatality in the realization that there will never be a future for her brother, George, or there will never be the promises fulfilled of love from her fiance, Laurence.

At thirty-eight, Violet has swallowed down the bitterness of living with her stern widowed mother who needles Violet constantly. Nothing that Violet does will heal the negativity and resentment that flows constantly within her mother. Violet decides to leave Southhampton and make a break for Winchester. She secures a job as an insurance typist in a small firm. She barely has enough money to rent a small room and certainly not much for extras.

But just as the Cathedral has always been the heartbeat of Winchester, it becomes the focus of Violet's new life. She inquires about the embroidering being done over the years by a group of women embellishing the kneelers, cushions, and alms bags with their works of art. Louisa Pesel (a real life individual) takes her under her wing and soon Violet is creating impressive work herself.

The Cathedral becomes Violet's source of refuge as the world takes its place on the precipice of another war. The Nazi Party is securing a foothold in Germany with Hitler taking advantage of economic uncertainties and unrest. It is here that Violet will meet Arthur Knight, a bell ringer, within the Cathedral. Her entire life will take a drastic turn from here on out.

Tracy Chevalier takes us deeply into the world of broderers who stitched their way into creating small offerings of beauty in a world going so wrong. Chevalier also presents the talents and finesse of the bell ringers that brought forth awe within the Cathedral's walls. But bear with the indepth descriptions of embroidery and bell ringing. She sometimes steps too far into painting mental murals of these two entities that the reader almost wishes to step away from such finite detail. Be aware, but also be cognizant of the fact that there's so much more within these walls.

A Single Thread zeroes in on the quickening change within the expectations placed upon women. The severe casualties brought upon by the past war and the impending one will come to embolden women who will leave behind their pacificity and take on new and unexpected roles. Violet, herself, will walk a different path in regard to relationships, sexuality, employment, and a new emboldment in a changing world. Life certainly begins with A Single Thread.

I received a copy of A Single Thread through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Random House Books and to the highly talented Tracy Chevalier.

[Esil · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars

A Single Thread had the ingredients for the kind of novel I usually love, but unfortunately I found it quite flat in the delivery. The story is set in the early 1930s, and focuses on Violet. Violet is 37 years old, and thinks of herself as a “surplus woman”. She wasn’t able to marry because so many men were killed during WWI, and her options in life are seriously limited by her sex and marital status. The story focuses on a year when Violet leaves her mother’s home and goes to live in Westminster, where she works as a typist and joins a women’s embroidery group. She also befriends one of the cathedral’s bell ringers. My favourite part of the book was one of the sub characters, Louise Pessel, who is based on a real woman who designed embroidery. The end also came together nicely. And the writing is decent. But otherwise this one felt a bit didactic at the expense of creating fully formed complex characters and a more subtle plot. I don’t regret reading it, but I feel that it could have been much better. This was a buddy read with Diane and Angela, and none of us was particularly enthusiastic, but as always I appreciate reading with them. Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Britain lost an estimated two percent of its population during World War I. It sounds insignificant, but that loss represented a generation of men who would have otherwise been wage-earners, husbands and fathers. In the wake of their loss was a generation of women who were left without fathers, brothers, husbands and co-parents. Tracy Chevalier's elegant, delicate and deeply moving A Single Thread traces one of the many who were known as "surplus women" and how their pattern of loss wove into British society in the years between the wars.

"Spinster", that terrible euphemism for the perceived failure of a woman to attract or hold onto a man, originated in the early 14th century when it referred to women who spun and wove yarn. By the 1700s it became a derogatory term, and a legal one, to indicate a woman was of marrying age and yet still shamefully single.

Violet Speedwell (a delightful play of names, as "Speedwell" is a flowering perennial) is the very portrait of a spinster, a surplus woman (I can’t even! Just writing that term boils my blood). It is 1932 and thirty-eight-year-old Violet has finally left her overbearing, peevish mother in Southampton for the cathedral village of Winchester, twelve miles to north. Violet's fiancé was killed at Passchendaele in 1917 and Violet has remained single, though a few times a year she puts on her one good dress — a gold lamé number that saw its best days a decade before when flappers kicked their heels in juke joints- and heads to a hotel bar to sip sherry and wait for a stranger to take her to bed for the night.

Although she revels in her independence in Winchester, she's living hand to mouth, freezing in her bedsit, missing meals to afford a few cigarettes and a weekly trip to the cinema. She is a typist in an insurance office, where her two other younger colleagues put in half-hearted days, just waiting for marriage to take them out of the workplace to become wives and mothers.

Lonely, Violet wanders into her beloved Winchester Cathedral and chances upon a group of broderers, women who embroider kneeling cushions and seat covers for the Cathedral. Although Violet has not embroidered since she was a little girl, she takes a chance and inserts herself into this group of volunteers, determined to learn a new skill and perhaps find friends.

Among her new friends is Gilda, who risks becoming even more of an outcast than Violet by following her own heart. There is Arthur, a 60-year-old bell ringer at the Cathedral whose life is marked by sorrow, loss and loneliness, and Mrs. Pesel, a real-life figure whose confidence in Violet's sewing ability translates into certitude that Violent can weather her current troubles to create a bright future, regardless of her marital status. There are also foes: her mother, who threatens to undermine any sense of self Violet struggles to create; her younger brother and his young family, who need Violet to be a caretaker; and a man from a nearby village who sees a single, independent woman as potential prey.

As Violet's stitches become smoother and more assured, so does her ability to assert her independence and her empathy. The metaphor of stitching herself a new life may seem trite, but Chevalier renders this particular story with such a keen eye for detail, crafting all the missteps and small moments that make a memorable, believable character. What may have been cliché becomes a tapestry of delight and grief, determination and hope.

A Single Thread is far and away the best I have read from Chevalier. Its gentle pace belies its power: a single thread may be a delicate, vulnerable thing, but all those threads woven together create a singular, compelling portrait of courage and longing that is timeless and unforgettable.

[CC · Rating 2 out of 5]

I suppose that it is my own fault for imagining that a book about embroidery would be nonstop entertainment, but admittedly I was interested in the historical aspects. Put simply I found this book to be a little boring. The author is very detailed even about trivial events and sometimes I felt that I was simply reading Wikipedia vomited up on the page, some of the conversations are just overtly used for this purpose so don't flow naturally at all. Violet is a low-key feminist that I want to cheer for but she's written in a very unlikeable way so I never much enjoyed her inner voice or decision making. For whatever reason on the whole this book was just too nebulous for me and I really got no sense that this was a story that needed telling as it seemed more like several stitched together ideas.

[SueLucie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not for the first time have I read a book by this author and been intrigued by the subject matter but underwhelmed by the story. This one was no exception. The plight of the ‘surplus women’ of the years after WWI has been fictionalised before and to better effect. The embroidery project at Winchester Cathedral and the whole rigmarole of bell ringing were intriguing, though, and I am glad to have read this book for those alone, especially since I discovered at the end that the main character in the embroidery element (Louisa Pesel) is based on a real person and that inspired me to research her life. I thought the story linking all these themes, though, was lacklustre and short on subtlety. I don’t much care for being told what to think.

The price of her happiness - no, not happiness; the price of her freedom - was the misery of at least four people. It was a very high price indeed, and Violet resented having to calculate it in this way. A man never did.

The characters were rather one-dimensional and I failed to engage, even with Violet whose situation in life should have moved me more. An easy enough read, but not one I’d much recommend.

With thanks to Harper Collins, Borough Press via NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC.

[Linden · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's 1932, and because so many young men have lost their lives in the Great War, there is a whole generation of unmarried females, unfortunately referred to as "surplus women;" Violet at age 38 is one of them. She has lost both her fiance and brother in the war, and decides to get a job in the next town to escape living with her cantankerous mother. She gets involved with a group of women who embroider cushions for the church, and learns far more that just embroidery stitches through her association with these women. Tracy Chevalier has evoked the period between the wars perfectly. I felt as if I was in this English village, where kindness and small-mindedness coexisted in the multi-faceted characters. Chevalier has done her research, and this novel is one of her best. I just couldn't put it down.

[Ivana - Diary of Difference · Rating 4 out of 5]

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When the team from LoveReading UK contacted me regarding A Single Thread, all I knew was that I loved Girl With A Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier and would therefore read any other book she writes.

A Single Thread follows the life of Violet, during the year 1932, a few years after the First World War. Violet has lost her brother and fiance in the war and is still learning to cope. She is labelled as a ”surplus woman” by the society, a woman that in unlikely to marry.

With the grief, the society label and the suffocation of her mother, Violet starts a journey that will change her life.

She is determined to find where she belongs and who she truly is, in a time where being a woman and succeeding on your own was not praised by others.

Her journey starts with a long walk in a few towns, something she used to do with her late father and brother, and it continues with her learning canvas embroidery (today knows as needlepoint), and the beautiful art of bell ringing (which pleasantly reminded me of The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo, a book I read in high school and one I should re-read).

With Tracy’s writing, it is always so easy to lose yourself in the book and teleport to the past and re-live every scene as if you’re there. It is such a pleasurable experience.

I loved Violet, and I loved how she coped with all challenges of that era. Post First World War times were extremely hard, with too many men dying and too many women not being able to ever marry. Violet’s courage and hope kept moving her forward!

This novel yells courage. It yells freedom. It yells independence. And standing along Violet, while she finds courage when you least expect to was a moment I will cherish.

I recommend it to you, if you love novels in the war time period, or novels that talk about courage!

Thank you to the team at LoveReading UK, for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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[Taury · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Single Thread by Jennifer Chevalier is a slow moving novel about a woman in 1932 who loses her brother and finance in WW1. At the time she lived with her mother who became angry and bitter. She moves on to Winchester in a life of being single where she takes on embroidery and meets a bell ringer in a large Cathedral

Book did excite me or pull me back in. There wasnt a lot of action. It just didnt move me in any direction. .

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

England, 1932. Violet loses her fiancé and brother to the Great War and now her father. She feels that she needs a change. She needs to move out from living with her mother even if it means only 12 miles up the road.

In Winchester, she supports herself as a typist. She also joins a group of women – broderers. They embroider cushions and kneelers for the cathedral. There, she finds friendship and fulfillment. But I didn’t feel it. I love the idea of a group of friends creating something artistic, but this atmosphere didn’t come through in the story.

The plot is fairly simple, which I don’t mind. The problem is when you have a simple plot, you need to make the characters compelling, touching on human emotions. So you have something to grasp onto. Otherwise, the story feels flat.

The story touches upon the “surplus women” – unmarried women due to lose of men during the Great War, and what life was like for them. It also brings an aspect of Church bells, which gives a tiny dimension to the story. Not enough to make it an engaging read.

3.5 stars. I’ve read other books by this author and I do like her writing, but I never felt really invested in this story.

[Morgan · Rating 1 out of 5]

BORING:
If you want to learn about all different kinds of embroidery stitches this is the book for you.
I should have ‘gathered’ that from the title “A Single Thread”.
You will also learn a great deal about cathedral bell ringing and the sad life of a very wishy-washy main character Violet.

[James Cross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now, I'm not the target audience for this book. This book is set in the early 1930's about an unmarried thirty something woman who has suffered great losses, who is a typist and the book heavily features cathedrals, embroidery, bell ringing and holidays. I am a gay married man with a child, who likes eating twix chocolate bars and playing Mario games. Hey, we're the same age.

But. Having never read a Tracy Chevalier book I wasn't aware that her writing could wash away my scepticism within about 20 pages. She makes Violet come alive, she is flawed but strong, and her struggle to be free and independent is something you really root for.

I genuinely never thought stitching a kneeler for church could be such a well of emotion and drama, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Also impressive was the firm sense of place and time. Despite the obligatory Nazi foreshadowing (honestly the least interesting part of the book), this is a vivid picture of a society on the cusp of change when it comes to feminism, LGBT issues and emancipation.

I expected to leaf through a standard romance, but I ended up avidly reading a charming involving story.

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one could really have been something. The ‘surplus women’ have always fascinated me. In many ways, I feel they led some of the most liberated and fulfilling lives. (Sally Nicholls wrote a wonderful short story about this, ‘Going Spare’.) But Violet Speedwell and her story were no such specimens.

It’s difficult to pinpoint what exactly A Single Thread is about. On the one hand, a moving depiction of a woman escaping her overbearing mother, struggling on a salary that affords her only one hot meal a week, and eschewing societal prescriptions. It is also a quaint and cosy glance at the 30s. But it lacks any real punch. The writing is easy to consume, but it’s uninspiring. Violet’s plight for independence is compelling, but she’s rather flat and Chevalier gives her what she wants pretty easily. The characters are archetypal. There is no true conflict – and no, the weak and hastily-introduced antagonist doesn’t count.

Having lived in Winchester, I can safely say this one is not entirely evocative of the city. There are a few interesting titbits in there – unorthodox inscriptions on gravestones and graffiti in the cathedral – but overall the setting serves no real purpose other than to support the potted history of broidery and bellringing.

Crucially, the finale and ‘twist’ (apart from being predictable and underwhelming) makes the novel counterintuitive. I find romances borne of infidelity rather unpalatable at the best of times, but more crucially the narrative is set up to let Violet embrace spinsterhood, gathering self-esteem and agency. Instead, she gets a quicky in a field and a sprog to give her purpose. Hooray!!.

Meh. The sentiment was noble but the execution was underwhelming – I skim read the final third.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Britta Böhler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for the Booktube Prize 2020 (Octafinals). Nice, readable commercial fiction. But nothing to write home about.
2.5*

[Aura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would like to bow my head to Tracy Chevalier with respect. This is a lovely book about a young woman who loses her brother and her fiance to the Great War. What is a woman's role without a man? In the UK between WWI and WWII, it was uncharted territory. At 38, Violet decides to live her life independently and unconventionally, partly because of the grief of losing her brother and fiance and partly because there is a scarcity of eligible men after the war. I just read City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert and I have been thinking about this idea of women's roles and are we in place today where women can be free to be who they are. This book WOWed me. It is historical fiction with perks. There is love, there is a cathedral, there is embroidery, there is a long hike, there are important issues about women and their roles in society ... I loved it.

[Georgiana 1792 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Come sempre Tracy Chevalier ci regala un romanzo storico bellissimo, che si fa fatica a metter giù, ambientato tra la Prima e la Seconda Guerra Mondiale, e che vede come protagonista una "zitella", una donna di trentotto anni rimasta sola proprio a causa della guerra, con una madre dispotica, che lascia a Southampton per cercare un lavoro - e l'indipendenza - a Winchester. La situazione delle donne sole è trattata sotto numerosissimi aspetti, e poi Chevalier mi ha dato tantissimi altri motivi per tornare a Winchester a visitare la sua cattedrale, oltre a quello di fare il consueto pellegrinaggi sulla tomba di Jane Austen, non ultimi i cuscini di Louisa Pesel e delle sue ricamatrici, che adesso mi rammarico di non avere notato quando ci sono stata, ma che immagino saranno ulteriore motivo di visita dopo questo romanzo, e non solo per me.

Era in anticipo, ma invece di andare, come al solito, a guardare i cuscini nel presbiterio, proseguì fino alla tomba di Jane Austen. La nuda lapide sul pavimento non citava neppure la sua attività di scrittrice, e solo in seguito era stata aggiunta una targa di ottone per onorarne la fama. Jane Austen non viveva a Winchester, era venuta in cerca di una cura per la grave malattia che l’affliggeva, e non era più tornata a casa. La famiglia aveva pagato perché fosse sepolta all’interno della cattedrale. Aveva quarantun anni quando era morta, senza marito, né figli, con accanto solo la sorella. Violet non aveva neppure quella certezza e di sicuro non sarebbe stata ricordata per le sue opere. Aveva tre anni in meno, ma rischiava di scomparire senza lasciare traccia.

È il secondo romanzo di Tracy Chevalier, dopo Strane Creature, che sfiora la vita di Jane Austen... chissà se un giorno non scriverà di lei in modo ancora più diretto. Io lo spero, perché la sua scrittura è davvero magica.

[Laura V. لاورا · Rating 4 out of 5]

“A volte basta un filo a cambiare la trama.”

Che nascere donna non sia mai stato facile in qualsiasi tempo e luogo è risaputo. Nemmeno l’Inghilterra ancora dell’epoca imperiale sembra aver risparmiato niente alle suddite di sua maestà britannica, alle quali si è continuato a chiedere di scegliere tra famiglia e lavoro, tra matrimonio e un nubilato maldestramente etichettato come una sprezzante condanna senz’appello.
Giunta alla bella età di trentotto anni, Violet Speedwell è una di quelle donne non sposate a cui la bigotta e ipocrita società inglese degli anni Trenta del secolo scorso richiede unicamente di votarsi alla cura dei genitori e di tenere un comportamento moralmente non riprovevole. Anche lei, al pari di tante, fa parte suo malgrado del poco invidiato club di “donne in eccedenza”, come vengono additate le nubili rimaste tali anzitutto a causa della penuria di giovani uomini imputabile alla grande guerra che si è conclusa da meno di tre lustri; sui campi di battaglia del vecchio continente sono caduti anche un fratello e il fidanzato, perdite incolmabili che bruciano come ferite sempre aperte nella sua esistenza scandita dalla routine familiare e i ritmi del lavoro da dattilografa. L’improvviso trasferimento da Southampton a Winchester da lei richiesto la sottrae, per fortuna, al caratteraccio di una madre che, più che sostenerla, pare annichilirla, mentre la nuova città, dove si accosta al mondo delle ricamatrici legate all’antica Cattedrale, finisce per affrancarla aprendole nuovi, imprevedibili e insperabili orizzonti. Dopo lutti e amarezze varie, la vita sorriderà ancora a Violet? E, soprattutto, Violet saprà sorridere di nuovo alla vita?
Con una storia bellissima e intensa che conquista a poco a poco il lettore, ritorna in libreria Tracy Chevalier, già autrice de “La ragazza con l’orecchino di perla” (Neri Pozza, 2000), nonché di altri grandi successi internazionali. Anche quest’ultimo romanzo, grazie alla trama coinvolgente e alla scrittura resa particolarmente scorrevole dall’abile stile narrativo, ha tutte le carte in regola per diventare un nuovo successo letterario di questa autrice nata nel 1962 negli Stati Uniti, ma trasferitasi in Inghilterra fin dagli anni Ottanta. Tra queste pagine, infatti, emerge una sensibilità tutta femminile che si addentra nell’intimo della protagonista, facendone un ritratto perfetto che mette a nudo sentimenti, emozioni, timori e, nonostante tutto, il desiderio di amare ed essere amata ancora una volta. Violet, però, non è l’unica a testimoniare quanto sia difficile per una donna farsi strada e affrontare una società che, per quanto civile e “moderna”, si arrocca in un umiliante e opprimente maschilismo, spesso alimentato, paradossalmente, dal medesimo gentil sesso.
Se, da un lato, aveva rivendicato un tempo la propria libertà sessuale ripiegando tristemente su quelli che chiama gli uomini dello sherry, la cui compagnia poteva andar bene giusto per una notte, Violet stessa all’inizio si dimostra a disagio di fronte alla scoperta della relazione saffica tra due colleghe ricamatrici su cui gravano maldicenze e riprovazione sociale. Gilda, Dorothy e anche la non più giovane signorina Louisa Pesel emergono nel corso della narrazione come figure molto più intelligenti e autorevoli di qualsiasi uomo, illuminando d’un tratto con una luce nuova il mondo di Violet. Quello dell’emancipazione femminile, che passa attraverso la realizzazione professionale e il coraggio di disporre di se stesse senza condizionamenti né imposizioni, è il tema intorno al quale ruota indiscutibilmente questo romanzo che, oltretutto, rivela un prezioso lavoro di ricerca e documentazione storica, dal momento che la Pesel e i ricami della Cattedrale di Winchester, come si apprende da una nota finale, non sono fantasie della penna della Chevalier. E, non a caso, l’arte del ricamo finisce qui per svestirsi di quella semplicistica parvenza di passatempo da zitelle (per riprendere l’impietosa definizione data dalla madre della protagonista), divenendo ben presto quel qualcosa di cui si ha profondamente bisogno – come afferma invece il campanaro Arthur – per liberarci da noi stessi.

“[…] Violet scoprì che ricamare non era poi così diverso da battere a macchina, però dava più soddisfazione. Una volta che ci avevi preso la mano, diventava perfino rilassante e potevi dimenticare ogni altro pensiero, concentrandoti unicamente su ciò che avevi davanti. La vita allora si riduceva a una sfilza di punti blu che s’intrecciavano sul canovaccio, uno sprazzo di rosso che pian piano diventava un fiore. Invece di redigere documenti per persone che non avrebbe mai conosciuto, Violet vedeva nascere sotto le sue dita figure dai colori vivaci. […]”

Così, fra gli intrecci di quei colori e le meravigliose composizioni dei cuscini della cattedrale, Violet è capace di far proprio quel coraggio che è sempre difficile afferrare se non si è disposti a pagarne il prezzo, scoprendo infine che, talvolta, basta davvero un filo diverso per cambiare del tutto la misteriosa trama dell’esistenza.
Quattro stelle e 1/2!

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very quiet novel. The character was quiet: a single English woman dealing with her place in society as a “surplus woman” right after WWI. The subject matter was quiet: sewing and church services and walks in the countryside and tea. The plot was quiet, covering relatively smooth terrain for most of the journey. There was plenty of pain--loneliness, loss, mourning, scarcity, family frustration, fear, trauma, dreams unrealized--but even the pain was exceptionally quiet.

Violet has lost her brother and fiancé in the war. She becomes a broderer, someone who works in embroidery, in this case, with a group of women making cushions and kneelers for the Winchester Cathedral. This work is what we call needlepoint today and discussion of the designs and stitches was surprisingly interesting. Cathedral bell-ringing was also worked into the plot, which I have to say “resonated” with me as a music lover.

The author has some wonderful photos and descriptions of her research for this book on her website, including a beautiful video of bell ringing here: https://www.tchevalier.com/a-single-t....

I was afraid the story would be too quiet to make much of an impact, but about halfway it began to deepen. Some controversial subjects were carefully approached, such as the looming threat of Nazi fascism and society’s reactions to homosexuality. It turned out this quiet novel was an ever-so-gently thought-provoking one.

So a lovely book and a calming retreat for me during the hectic holiday season. Highly recommended for anyone who may need or just enjoy a gently intriguing tale told in peaceful prose.

[Evi * · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tracy Chevalier è l'autrice del famosissimo La ragazza con l'orecchino di perla, scrive storie che stanno a metà tra finzione e realtà storica.
Infatti l'Associazione delle ricamatrici di Winchester, che venne fondata da una certa signora Pesel, all'ombra dell'omonima bellissima cattedrale nel sud dell'Inghilterra (sì proprio lì dove sono raccolte le spoglie mortali di Jane Austen, un esempio  di ricamatrice docg) è realmente esistita e lo è tuttora e ha prodotto meravigliosi cuscini da preghiera, ricamati per l'edificio religioso.

Purtroppo il libro è piuttosto  mediocre, senza né infamia né lode, fino a tre quarti destinato a due solitarie stelle si è risollevato un filo a poche pagine dalla fine. 
D'altra parte ho deciso di leggerlo solo perché da un mese a questa parte mi è preso l'uzzolo di imparare a ricamare a punto croce, completamente da autodidatta, io, che a malapena sapevo infilare un filo nell'ago e attaccare un bottone era per me un incubo di pallosita',  ora mi destreggio tra tele, filati colorati, punti croce mezzi punti etc etc,  pertanto sono molto sensibile all'argomento e non appena ho visto questo titolo non ho resistito.

Il ricamo a punto croce è un'arte nobile e antica, l'800 è stato il suo secolo d'oro  e si è ricamato di tutto: cuscini tovaglie, lenzuola arazzi; l'iconografia classica della donna di quel secolo è il viso sottomesso,  piegato sul tombolo e le dita che scorrono sulla tela.
Lo so fa molto vecchio, ma insospettabilmente e, soprattutto in questi tempi eternamente pandemici, sta accogliendo moltissime addicted, anche tra vip d'oltreoceano.
È un hobby che si può  consigliare a chiunque soprattutto se siete molto stressati e, perché no, pure ai... maschietti.
D'altronde  durante la guerra l'arte del ricamo veniva insegnata anche ai soldati convalescenti perché  il  ricamo ha un effetto terapeutico.
I colori, i gesti ripetuti, infilare l'ago ed estrarlo dal tessuto più e più volte, comporre uno schema sono tutte cose che agiscono da sedativo, calmano la mente ed è un po' come fare meditazione,  per non parlare del fatto che la creazione di qualcosa di materiale e bello, qualunque essa sia, è di una soddisfazione che non ha pari, quasi quasi per me in questo momento meglio della lettura...

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful read and a time period Ive rarely read about. The context fell into place for me when I realised my grandparents would have been about 40 at the time of this novel. A time when women were expected to marry and have children, but where the male population had fallen by 2 million during the Great War and when Britain was still recovering from one war, while Hitler rose to prominence as the Chancellor on the way to the next. It was terribly difficult to earn a living and live independently as a woman ‘left on the shelf’. This is the story of a woman and the life she makes for herself, the community to which she comes to belong, the friends she makes, the interests and skills she develops and how she comes to lead her own life through a community of broderers. A poignant and lovely story. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chevalier’s best since Falling Angels; possibly her best ever, though I’d have to reread Angels to decide for sure – it’s got the Victorian graveyard setting so sure to lure me in. The subject matter of the 1930s-set A Single Thread sounds like it could easily be parochial and twee: embroidering kneeling cushions and ringing church bells in an English cathedral town? That Chevalier makes such old-fashioned hobbies fascinating is a testament to her rising talent for incorporating copious research to bring a historical period to life – something she hasn’t always managed unobtrusively in earlier novels.

She’s created an appealing heroine in Violet Speedwell, who at age 38 is living away from home for the first time. As one of the “surplus woman” created by WWI, in which she lost both her brother and her fiancé, she has to fight for a life of her own in Winchester, including a career as a typist, a decent living situation in a boarding house, and the community of friends she meets through the cathedral’s broderers group. Many have ruled her out – even her own brother – as if asking what the point is of one more spinster. Yet when opportunities to expand her life come her way, whether that’s through creating beautiful handcraft to decorate a centuries-old church, going on a walking holiday by herself or falling in love with a 60-year-old married bellringer, Violet seizes them. I especially liked the scenes in which she stands up to her employer. You cheer for her courage all the way through.

The plot is not without melodrama (in particular, I found it farfetched, though of course it’s a familiar trope from fiction and films, that Violet would become pregnant from just one sexual encounter, and immediately afterward would be hopeful: “alert to the possibility of change and growth” and feeling “a faint twinge.”), but I was mostly able to suspend disbelief and enjoy the coincidences and fast-paced events of the last third. Some things are ever true, after all: single women feeling the pressure of marriage and motherhood, women alone being in fear of unwanted male attention, the threat of rising fascism, and people having to stand up for the right to love even if it’s not who they’re ‘supposed’ to love.

My husband is from the Southampton area, so I know Winchester and its surroundings well, which only enhanced my appreciation of this vividly realized setting. Chevalier is an American expat like me, though she’s lived in England long enough to make this very English novel convincing and full of charm.

Some favorite lines:

“Cups of tea punctuated moments, dividing before from after”

“Men walked through the world as if it belonged to them.”

“Don’t wallow, she scolded herself. Jane Austen [buried in Winchester Cathedral] would never have wallowed.”

[Book Concierge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book on CD narrated by Fenella Woolgar


From the book jacket: 1932. Since the Great War took both her brother and her fiancé, Violet Speedwell has become a “surplus woman,” one of a generation destined to remain unmarried after the war killed so many young men. Yet Violet cannot reconcile herself to a future spent caring for her grieving mother. Setting out for Winchester she finds both a job and a room of her own in a boardinghouse. Violet also falls in with the broderers, a group of women charged with embroidering cushions and kneelers for the grand Winchester Cathedral. She finds friendship in her new circle, fulfillment in the work they create, and love.

My reactions
This is a selection for my F2F book club. I have read and greatly enjoyed other works by Chevalier, so was looking forward to it. But I come away a little disappointed.

I suppose if I had read the jacket blurb I’d have known there would be a romance and my expectations would have been different. But I really wanted to know more about the cathedral, its history, and the work of the broderers.

Chevalier managed to include issues of the era’s expectations (or lack thereof) of women, and a lesbian couple’s struggles to find acceptance. She also includes the beginnings of the Nazi party with Hitler’s rise to power and hints at what is coming.

I really liked Violet, and several of the women she came to know and befriend. Her landlady was a peach, and Miss Pesel was a treasure. I thought she treated Violet’s relationship with Arthur fairly, and realistically. But I wish the author had left out the romance.

Fenella Woolgar does a marvelous job narrating the audiobook. There are many women characters and she managed to give them sufficiently unique voices so I was never confused about who was speaking.

[Joan Happel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Violet Speedwell is one of England’s “surplus women”. That generation of women whose husbands and would-be-husbands never returned from WWI, leaving countless females who were forced to alter their expectations and take up the mantle of earning a living, caring for their aging parents and accepting their spinsterhood. Violet has decided leave her embittered mother’s home to eke out a life for herself working as a typist in Winchester. One day, while visiting Winchester Cathedral she encounters one of the broderers who create the beautiful, intricate seats and kneelers for the cathedral. When she joins the group she meets real-life embroidery pioneer, Louisa Pesel. After a slow start, Violet begins to feel a sense of kinship with the other women and a regaining of the confidence she thought she had lost. The changes wrought by her work at the cathedral begin to spill over into her work and home life as well. The grayness of her life begins to peel away and hope for a sense of fulfillment and happiness begins to seep in.

This is a beautiful and compelling story, richly detailed and well-researched. Violet and the other surplus women in Chevalier’s novel are strong and resilient, refusing to just slip into the shadows as society wants them to. They are an ever present reminder of an horrific war that took away a generation of young men, yet these women are determined to not just survive, but to thrive; on their own terms. Bittersweet, but ultimately up-lifting, this is a novel to savor and share.

Thank you to Penguin Group and NetGalley for the e-ARC.

[Bill on GR Sabbatical · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the other Chevalier title I read, Remarkable Creatures, and I liked this one, too. Violet Speedwell is 38 in 1932, living at home in Southampton with her constantly complaining, widowed mother and working as an underpaid typist for an insurance company. She's one of the 'surplus women' left so by the loss of so many men of her generation during World War I, including her fiance and a beloved brother.

Unwilling to settle for an empty life and probable eventual dependence on another brother to survive, she arranges a transfer to the Winchester office of her employer, determined to make an independent life. A big part of what becomes her life is the newly established Cathedral Broderers, working under the tutelage of real-life embroidery scholar and educator Louisa Pesel, to create kneelers, bench cushions, and alms bags for the Cathedral. Through this work, she is introduced to some of the Cathedral bellringers, and learns about this fascinating discipline, as well. She and several other broderers work through the obstacles they faced as women during the 1930s.

A substantial bibliography is included.