A Single Thread

From the globally bestselling author of Girl with a Pearl Earring ’I loved it. So compelling and warm and subtle, and very moving’ Bridget Collins, author of The Binding ’Deeply touching ... careful, beautiful’ Louisa Young, author of You Left Early 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... The author of }Girl With A Peal Earring{'s first novel set in Britain since }Remarkable Creatures{. In 1932, with the legacy of World War One still felt and rumours of another war ahead, Violet starts work embroidering church kneelers and immerses herself in the secrets of the other women who go about this. FROM THE GLOBALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING `Bittersweet . dazzling' Guardian `Deeply pleasurable . the ending made me cry' The Times `Told with a wealth of detail and narrative intensity' Penelope Lively It is 1932, and the losses of the First World War are still keenly felt. Violet Speedwell, mourning for both her fianc 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 From the globally bestselling author of Girl with a Pearl Earring It is 1932, and the losses of the First World War are still keenly felt. Violet Speedwell, mourning for both her fiance 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 While not as dramatic as some of her mediaeval/Tudor/ Civil War historical novels, this book is satisfying precisely because it is so understated. The tragedy of a lost generation can only be felt by the women left behind. Single women are looked upon as convenient unpaid labour by elderly parents or siblings. And if they dare to go work, such independence is regarded as dangerously revolutionary. A friendship with another woman is invariably frowned upon as "deviant," while a friendship with a man invites unwelcome and frightening attentions from strangers. In this case, the protagonist takes up embroidery in Winchester Cathedral, to meet other people and learn a new hobby. To her astonishment, she finds that even this innocuous pastime is derided as something fit only for spinsters, and that it defines her whole identity. "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 ..."--Provided by publisher FROM THE GLOBALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING 'Bittersweet ... dazzling' Guardian 'Deeply pleasurable ... the ending made me cry' The Times 'Told with a wealth of detail and narrative intensity' Penelope Lively Violet is 38. The First World War took everything from her. Her brother, her fiancé – and her future. She is now considered a 'surplus woman'. But Violet is also fiercely independent and determined. Escaping her suffocating mother, she moves to Winchester to start a new life –a change that will require courage, resilience and acts of quiet rebellion. And when whispers of another world war surface, she must live with a secret that could change everything...