"Blackberry and Wild Rose" by Sonia Velton intricately weaves together the lives of two women in 18th-century London, amidst the backdrop of the Huguenot silk weaving industry. Esther Thorel, the wife of a master silk weaver, and Sara Kemp, a young woman rescued from a brothel, navigate ambition, love, and betrayal in a society rife with hypocrisy and secrets. Velton's debut novel is richly atmospheric, transporting readers to the world of silk weavers with vivid detail and compelling characters. With its blend of historical accuracy and captivating storytelling, "Blackberry and Wild Rose" is a must-read for fans of historical fiction.

The cover drew me in as well as the synopsis. The book was researched incredibly well and I enjoyed being transported to 18th century London.

Thank you NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review. I love historical fiction. The story is centered around the topic of fabric competition. I found this very interesting since I have not come across this particular topic in an historical mystery.

With delightful gothic overtones, this book set in Victorian England has it all: love, ambition, revenge, drama. It was wonderfully written and atmospheric, and the author was very original and creative in her choice of plot. I really enjoyed this and believe it is perfect for fans of Diane Setterfield.

Heartbreaking but good, this book talks about a profession I wasn’t super familiar with. It was a great peek into the art of silks and weaving, but it was also sad and stuck with me long afterwards. If you want something that is more literary than fun, then this is your book.

Honestly lost interest in this one unfortunately. couldn't keep my attention and I didn't finish it.

I really wanted to like this book, it sounded like a very interesting premise. However, I could not get into it no matter how much I tried and could not maintain focus when I would try to push myself through it. I even tried to listen along with the audiobook & it was such a struggle for me. As far as I got, maybe about 25% in, I had no understanding on the silk making process so had a tough time following along with any of that.

I may try to go back in the future but at this time, I was unable to finish.

This was interesting but in the end it was a bit of a disappointment. I couldn't find myself getting involved with any one character to feel a connection to the book

Esther Thorel was a bored housewife in 1760s London, and married to a stern, oppressive Huguenot weaver, when she makes the decision to bring a prostitute, Sara, to work in her home as a lady’s maid.

At the same time, her husband lends the use of his attic weaving studio to an apprentice weaver. The apprentice is creating a piece to submit to the Guild in order to secure his place as a Master Weaver.

Esther yearns to do more with her life and talents, while Sara has ambitions of her own. They each embark on affairs of sorts This novel is fraught with secrets, lies, betrayals, and mistaken identities. It’s wonderfully rich and descriptive of both the er and the silk-weaving arts.

Also consider: Figures In Silk (Venora Bennett), The Glovemaker (Anne Weisgarber), The Corset (Laura Purcell), The Poison Bed (E.C. Fremantle), The Confessions of Frankie Langerton (Sara Collins), Widdershins (Helen Steadman),, and The Dress Lodger (Sheri Holman).

Thank you to Quercus Publishing and Netgalley for my copy.

Another one from the Netgalley pile.

<U> Blackberry & Wild Rose </u> is a mid-18th century historical fiction novel that takes place in Spitalfields, England - a community known for their weavers and silk production. The narrative is told by the alternating voices of Sara, a country girl essentially human trafficked into prostitution until she is "saved" and becomes a house maid and cook, and Esther, the unsatisfied wife of the prominent Hugenot weaver Mr. Thorel who takes Sara in. Overall this novel was an incredibly interesting read, although a bit unpolished. I would definitely read another book from this author; if they finesse their writing skills I am sure they would have a great read on their hands. As it stands, the flaws in this one made me like but not love it.

The greatest part about this book was the storyline. It is interesting to note that the author was inspired to write this novel by the tale of Anna Maria Garthwaite - an actual silk designer who lived in Spitalfield in the mid-1700s and became renown for the watercolours that she converted into weaving patterns. Many of her works still survive to this day and are on display in museums around the world, but not too much is known about Anna herself. This story takes large liberties in its reimagining, however, so it is a bit of a stretch to say that it is based on Anna's life. There are definitely elements that resemble her, but the book itself largely departs from her biography. This story though! I was intrigued from the start and could not put it down. I wanted to know what happened next and next and next. It was fast paced and absorbing.

In general the characters were well thought out and had varied relationships with (mostly) realistic thoughts, motivations and expressions. That being said, I found that Velton had quite a few characters who oftentimes seemed two dimensional. The jealous scullery maid and cook, the blackhearted trickster weaver, the cruel distant husband...these caricatures vacillated between being grossly exaggerated and slight bit more complex and human. There was a lack of consistency in personality and words and actions, but the story was interesting enough that it barely detracted from it.

I think that where the novel really fell through was the writing style. It was unpolished and choppy. There were small discrepancies with the storyline that the author would explain away or gloss over - they would mention a detail as an afterthought in a scene to explain why a character could or would not do something even though the scene being referenced had been previously written in detail with no mention of that object being taken away or those words that had been said. There was often more "telling" than "showing" as well, which was slightly problematic, but again, with experience I am sure this will be fixed. It is a testament to how fascinating the story was that I continued to feel compelled to read on. I cannot wait to see what else the author has in store.

Sara is tricked into prostitution and held there by an unjust debt. A Huguenot silk weaver’s wife, Esther, takes her in as a charity case to be her personal maid, self-righteously upholding her elite status in this way. Both women become involved in the silk weavers’ revolt in the only way possible for women to do anything in the late 18th century, through romantic entanglements, Sara seeking freedom and Esther desiring to see her own designs woven. Inspired by a historical figure ahead of her time, Velton creates a compelling fictionalized tale of the Spitalfield Riots, with sex, unrequited love, betrayal, and death. I was fortunate to receive this wonderful book from Blackstone Publishing through NetGalley.

Silk and sedition!

A fascinating tale using as a backdrop the troubles faced by weavers in eighteenth-century Spitalfields, London, whose jobs are under threat as the market is flooded by cheap Indian calico.
Two woman are the catalysts for much that happens. Master weaver Elia Thorel's wife Esther Thorel, is a gifted painter who wants to be involved in her husband's work.
The other woman is Esther's maid Sara Kemp, a young woman who ended up in the hands of a heartless procurer, a older woman who preys upon innocent country girls at the Coaching stop. Esther effects a rescue of Sara, a rescue that will have devastating effects on her household.
At the same time Esther's stern unbending husband Elias, a Huguenot silk master has taken on sponsorship of a talented journeyman, Bisby Lambert, with the promise of helping him to become a master weaver.
The story takes a different turn for all involved when Bisby teaches Esther how to turn a particular painting, Blackberries and Wild Rose, into a pattern for the loom, and subsequently into a gorgeous silk piece. That this happens in secret in the attic where Elias has Bisby working gives the story a complex twist.
Elias is a pompous fellow who regrets going against his family's wishes to marry Esther. He has made her pay for that. A most dislikeable man.
Meanwhile Bisby's fellow weavers are preaching sedition and rebellion, and as tempers rise, the outcome is made more shocking by treachery and deceit as Bisby's is unwittingly Vaughn up in their actions.
I found the novel complicated, with multiple threads weaving the action together. Threads that would become tangled knots as ambition and love vie with deceit and dishonesty.
The portrait of the times and the angst rings true. The characters however seem somewhat aloof despite all that is happening. What I found most intriguing is the story of the silk design, the regulations about who can do what and the work involved in manufacturing such a piece. I was quite devastated by the ending and yet given all that has gone on before, how could the story end otherwise?

A Blackstone ARC via NetGalley

1768

Sara Kemp has just arrived in the Spitalfields area of London. She looks at the address her mother had given her to try and find it. Mrs. Swann sees Sara as an innocent in town and convinces the girl to go with her. There, she drugs Sara and a man comes in and has his way with her. Mrs. Swann kept the address and Sara’’s money and has made a prostitute of her saying Sara owes her money.

Esther Thorel and her husband, Elias, are members of the Huguenots religious group. Elias is a silk maker in Spitalfields and they live in a nice home with a few servants.

One day, Esther sees Mrs. Swann mistreating Sara in the street and steps to help her, but Mrs. Swann draws the girl back inside. Undeterred, Esther tries to find a way to get a message to Sara to come to her house for safety. She succeeds and Sara becomes a lady’s maid for Esther. One would think that Sara would be very relieved and grateful for her reprieve at the hands of Mrs. Swann, but she isn’t.

Esther is a talented watercolorist and would love to see one of her floral designs transferred to silk, but her husband scoffs at her, insisting that is his job. Pressing on, Esther enlists the silk weaver, using a loom in their attic to create his master piece, to help her. Knowing it must be kept secret, Esther and Bisby become friends with him showing her how the weaving is done on a loom.

Meanwhile, there is a lot of unrest among the silk weavers as the price for their work shrinks. One reason is that calico fabric has been introduced which makes the weavers furious. Their anger and frustration escalates to violence leading to an uprising which leaves two men in prison where they await trial and hanging. One is guilty and one is not.

This is a tense story that clearly, if grittily, shows the industry, the treatment of women, and the politics of the time. It doesn’t always make for easy reading, but it is straightforward and very compelling.

I enjoyed the in-depth descriptions that the author provided. I have read other books of the silk weaving industry in Spitalfields during that time period, and this book was not a disappointment. The characters are well written and their emotions perfectly captured. Well done!

Copy provided by NetGalley and Edelweiss in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Blackstone Publishing and Sonia Velton for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advance copy.

This story is inspired from the real life of Anna Maria Garthwaite, a prominent designer of Spitalfields silks in the mid-eighteenth century. This story tells the tale of two characters, Esther and Sara who come from very different worlds. Esther is married to a Hugenot master silk weaver and although she is kept busy doing charity work and running the household, she craves something more. She loves to paint but what she really wants to do is design silks. But these are not times when women should want things and Esther has not done her most important job, which is to bear children, especially a son. Only a son can inherit his father’s trade and making silks has been in the Thorel family for generations. Sara, on the other hand, has been sent by her mother to London to try and make a better life for herself. She is quickly taken advantage of and before she even knows what is happening to her becomes a prostitute. Sara also yearns for more and doesn’t see why she shouldn’t have a good life. One day Esther takes notice of Sara and reaches out to help her. Sara goes to work for the Thorels and before long becomes Esther’s lady maid. This is not the life Sara envisioned for herself, emptying her lady’s chamber pot and doesn’t understand why, because of birth, she is relegated to a life of servitude. Esther is so ignorant of Sara’s life, yet she also wants to break out of the chains set upon her by the world. Esther dares to take up with Lambert, who is using Mr. Thorel’s loom to create his masterpiece and hopefully one day become a master weaver. Slowly he teaches Esther how to create a pattern and weave silk. Both woman yearn for a different life, but can they make it happen?

This one caught me by surprise. I wasn’t quite sure what I was in for but boy was I surprised. Then, to find out that it was inspired by real events - really incredible. This story is beautifully laid out, really exploring both women’s desires and the many sides there are to women. Velton stays true to their characters and never do they fall into some neat package, behaving as you would expect. You have the class struggle between Sara and Esther. Esther feels Sara should be so grateful to her for “rescuing” her, but Sara has a different perspective. Both women are pushing back against the narrow role of women in that century and have forward thinking views. The men in their lives, sadly, don’t care to see them for anything other than what they should be. So you have all of these different things at play and as a backdrop you have a volatile story of the weavers revolting against the masters. There is a strict hierarchy of weavers, similar to class structure and Lambert is striving to be something more. Then the master weavers are trying to keep their trade alive amongst the influx of new fabrics from India and China. I loved learning about the silk trade and never does the story become convoluted. There is a clear pace that accelerates with the heightened fervour of the tradesmen with time running out for both Sara and Esther. I enjoyed this read so much and was very engrossed in the story. Strong writing kept this story intact and I couldn’t put it down.

Blackberry and Wild Rose is set against the backdrop of Huguenot silk weavers in 18th century Spitalfields, London. The narrative moves between two primary characters: a prostitute turned ladies’ maid (Sara) and the master weaver’s wife, her employer (Esther). Velton does a skillful job of painting the historical scene, she draws the reader in with descriptions of the impoverished conditions of Georgian London and touches on life within the Huguenot community. The book’s the stirring plot flows all the way to the very end. Touching on subjects such as loyalty, injustice, survival, and social convention, the handful of characters are complicated enough to ingratiate themselves in spite of their various weaknesses. Blackberry and Wild Rose is an extremely engaging novel and an enjoyable read which I would certainly recommend to others. Since this is the first novel for Velton, I am very much looking forward to her future work.

This girl goes through so many things so many changes just to survive and to be able to take care of herself! The writing of the history and the silk weaving,you do learn so much!! You want her to survive and make good!! Story jumps at you ,you feel as though you are the with these people and his place in time!!

Blackberry and Wild Rose is set for the most part in Spitalfields, London in 1768, and into the 1770s. We have several interesting and entertaining women, a couple of nice fellows and several less than stellar characters of both sexes. Sonia Velton tells a fine tale. The detail of weaving and the growing art of silk work, as well as the beginnings of the unionization of workers and the justice or lack of it in the court system at that time, are spot on, as are the household details and social divisions. The story is compelling and ends too soon. This is a book I was pleased to receive, and one I am happy to refer to friends and family. Sonia Velton is an author I will follow. Her authenticity of time and place is impressive.

I received a free electronic copy of this historical novel from Netgalley, Sonia Velton, and Blackstone Publishing, Quercus. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this book of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work.

Blackberry and Wild Rose follows the very different but intertwined lives of two women; Esther, the wife of a Huguenot silk weaver, and Sara Kemp, a prostitute she rescues from a brothel and employs in her home.They both have different problems, but exclusive to their respective stations. Esther is a painter, and longs to turn her paintings into woven silk, but her husband refuses because weaving is “a man’s work”. And while Sara didn’t enjoy being a prostitute, she also despises her mistress’ self-absorption and privilege.

“This was the life she had given me and she expected me to be grateful. So it is, when you exist only to serve another. It is an enviable transition from whore to lady’s maid, but both are a life of forced intimacy serving the needs of others.”

Esther soon finds herself secretly meeting with a silk weaving journeyman, who obliges her in showing her how to weave her paintings. And if you’re wondering “hey, that kind of sounds like the beginning of a tryst”, you’d be right. Marital woes and a lack of appreciation leave Esther emotional vulnerable, so OF COURSE she’s going to fall for the journeyman. However...they spend months together weaving, hours and hours each week, but we see almost none of it. The reader establishes zero connections with this relationship, which is unfortunate.

Meanwhile, Sara gets involved with a journeyman as well, albeit one significantly less kind and decent than Esther’s. As tensions between London’s journeymen and master weavers escalate, Esther and Sara find themselves on opposing sides after tragedy strikes.

I enjoyed learning the ins and outs of the silk trade in London, and the competition they faced from French and Belgian silk. Not to mention the *detested* Indian calico. And apparently Esther was based on a true story of a woman who made woven silk designs from paintings. The writing quality was fine, but overall I didn’t enjoy or connect with any of the characters.

This book takes the reader back to the mid 1700s in London where we meet two women who become involved in the silk weaving trade. The author has done a lot of research about the life the Huguenots led during this time period in England. The two main characters are women who form an unlikely friendship and help each other navigate the challenges of the time period. This is well-written and I always enjoy a historical fiction book where I learn something.

Rating: 3.5 stars rounded down the 3 stars

Sonia Velton has written an interesting work of historical fiction set in London in the 1760’s. I knew very little about the silk weaving trade concentrated in the Spitalfields area of London at that time. Nor did I realize that there were actual riots then as the weavers rebelled against the lowering of their piece rate wages when the industry started losing business to the Indian cotton calico trade.

The story is told from the dual points of view of Sara and Esther. Sara Kemp arrived in London as a teenager fresh off the farm, and was swooped up by a seemingly kindly older lady who promptly put her to work in her brothel. Esther Thorel encountered Sara and the brothel owner as she was walking in the area where the brothel was located, distributing Bibles. Esther married into the Huguenot faith when she married Master Weaver, Elias. The Huguenot community at that time was focused on silk production, and religious piety. It was a closed community that did not welcome Esther warmly.

Esther eventually provides a refuge for Sara after Sara flees the brothel. Sara becomes Esther’s maid, and watches as Esther tries to get her emotionally distant husband to allow her to design silk patterns. She also sees other things going on below the surface of the household that Esther is ignorant of.

Over the ensuing months Sara and Esther both struggle to find niches for themselves inside and outside of the Thorel household. Esther encounters Bisby Lambert who is working on his ‘masterpiece’ of silk weaving on the unused loom in the Thorel’s attic. Elias Thorel is allowing Bisby to use his loom to work on the piece that could transform Bisby from a journeyman weaver to a Master Weaver. That is a very rare opportunity. Esther convinces Bisby to show her how the loom works, and to please just weave a few rows of the ‘Blackberry and Wild Rose’ pattern that she’s devised. A friendship grows from there as they continue to weave the pattern together.

Sara encounters folks outside of the household that first bring excitement and then more tribulations to her life. She is well positioned to witness the events leading up to the Spitalfield riots. She speaks her mind to the downstairs servants in the household, and wavers between frustration and insight as to the Esther’s experiences. She can see danger where Esther cannot. There is in fact danger on all sides that culminates in the riots and eventual trials. Elias Thorel is deeply involved in the prosecution of the accused protagonist of the riots, to the horror of his wife and Sara.

I won’t go into how the story ends. Suffice it to say that I’m really grateful that I was not born in this era, or this area. It was such a brutal time as illustrated by the capriciousness of the law, and the minimal rights of the poor. It makes me glad that I have the rights that I do, especially as a woman in our contemporary society. This was a fine book that taught me some history, and entertained me over the course of a few days.

‘Thank-You’ to NetGalley; the publisher, Blackstone Publishing; and the author, Sonia Velton; for providing a free e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.