Violet Speedwell is an unmarried 38 year-old in lat 1930s England. Like many others, she lost a brother and fiance in the Great War. Due to the high death toll, there's a deficit of unmarried men and she faces a life of spinsterhood. No longer able to stomach her mother's constant complaining, she strikes out on her own in Wincester. She finds a community in the Wincester Broderers who have taken on the momentous task of embroidering kneelers and cushions for use in the cathedral. Over the course of the novel, we see Violet struggle with familial and societal pressures as she discovers her own strength and identity. As much as I enjoyed the plot and characters, the historical detail stole the show. Chevalier captured the day to day life of this era as well as the spoken and unspoken society rules of the time. Overall, a very compelling story that is a must-read for historical fiction lovers!

Thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with a digital ARC of this title via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I am familiar with Tracy Chevalier and have read a couple of her other titles so I was excited to see a new book by her available on Netgalley. I enjoy historical fiction, but may have missed out on this title without having an interest in the author. I don't know that a novel focused around embroidery and bell ringing would have caught my attention otherwise. However, I found myself quite interest in both subjects as I read more. She has done a great job mixing history and information about both subjects into a fictional story about a single woman trying to make her own way in a post-war time when the choices for a single woman were quite limited and looked down upon if they at all varied from traditional roles. Violet Speedwell decides to push back against society by moving out of her mother's home, taking a job, and pursuing her own interests. She ends up joining a church embroidery group where she learns about friendship, her own strengths, and following her dreams.
Overall, the book was in the middle for me. It was easy to read, informative and interesting, but nothing that stayed with me once I finished and put it away. A week later and I had a hard time remembering details of the book to write this review.

Writing: 4/5 Characters: 3.5/5 Story: 3.5/5 Historical depiction: 5/5

In 1933, Violet Speedwell is one of the many “surplus” women — women for whom there simply are no men, WWI having depleted the stores. This quiet, slow-paced, and yet utterly engrossing novel follows the 38-year old Violet as she slowly makes an independent life for herself without the availability of traditional options.

Leaving her home in Southampton and her embittered and critical mother, she takes a low-paid typing job and a room in a boarding house in nearby Winchester. It is there that she becomes drawn into the community of Cathedral Broderers who have taken on the task of producing the Cathedral embroideries (360 kneelers, 62 stall cushions and 96 alms bags). I am in no way “crafty,” but I found the description of the entire effort, from overall design, to process, to individual effort to be fascinating. As one of the volunteers (also a Latin teacher) says, “sic parvis magna — from small things, greatness,” commenting that these may be the only mark they are able to make on the world. I liked the fact that the lives described may have been “small” by modern dramatic standards, but were rich and full of meaning to those who lived them.

There is more: early forays into independence; friendships with other women who have not made conventional choices; beautiful descriptions of the natural beauty of the region; and some utterly fascinating descriptions of bell-ringing (did you know that in campanology (bell ringing) a “Peal” is a pattern of bell ringing that goes through 5,000 changes without stopping and can take over three hours? I did not. Don’t forget — each bell is pulled at the precise time by an actual human being.)

Excellent historical fiction based on real events and organizations and beautiful writing that stays true to the mores and habits of the period.

I once sent Tracy Chevalier a message on Goodreads, saying "write faster"! I don't always enjoy the time periods or circumstances she chooses to write about, but I do enjoy her writing.

In 'A Single Thread', she captures a few moments in time between England's and the world's recovery from The Great War and Hitler's rise to power.

Many women engaged to soldiers who never returned home found themselves spinsters with a dirth of men available as mates. At a time when a woman's identity was defined by her home and family, these women struggled to claim a place in society that would acknowledge their contributions beyond the family hearth.

Tracy Chevalier has a gift for taking an ordinary person's life and breathing life into a simple setting, creating an enthralling account.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review her latest work.
#ASingleThread #NetGalley

How on earth is this the first Tracy Chevalier novel I’ve ever read! I loved historical fiction novels and I knew at only 10% into A Single Thread that I should slow down and savor this book because this was one I was going to love! I thought the storyline was well thought out and I found myself completely captivated by these fantastic characters. Not only was the book entertaining, I also learned a lot about that time period, I had no idea “surplus women” was even a thing! I found myself thoroughly intrigued so I was googling as I reading—I love when a book does that! A Single Thread is a solid and complete 5 star novel! I absolutely cannot wait to dive into more from Tracy Chevalier in the future!

Chevalier pulls out all the stops on this one - history, embroidery, playing bells and that friendships soften the harder edges of life. Violet finds herself, at the edge of spinsterhood. and doesn't want to have to spend the rest of her life living with her demanding, caustic mother. She transfers from her job to a branch in another community - Winchester where she is absolutely besotted with the cathedral`. She becomes a broderer, working to make kneelers, and other items for the cathedral. Violet learns a great deal about life and everything she learns is gently passed on to the reader..

This is a deceptively simple book, but the more you read, the more depth, color and texture you uncover. After World War I, Violet Speedwell is left caring for her aging, angry mother. Her fiance and brother were both lost in the trenches. Violet wants more from life than to be her mother’s emotional and verbal punching bag and saves enough money to move out on her own. She moves to the town of Winchester and is soon caught up in a group of women who call themselves borderers. These are the women whose exquisite needlework decorates the kneelers for Winchester Cathedral. Violet joins their ranks and finds a peaceful serenity in her new life, but even as she begins to hope for more, Europe faces another, even bloodier conflict. This story related a part of history I knew nothing about, the magic in it comes from the friendship between the women, the bond they form after war changes their lives forever