A Single Thread

A Single Thread

Tracy Chevalier

A Single Thread is set in the UK in that period between the two wars. In 1932 families are still freshly grieving those lost in the Great War while in Germany Nazism is being birthed.

Violet Speedwell, having lost both her beloved brother and her fiancé is uncomfortable and unhappy living with her demanding mother who almost seems to resent her for still being alive. So she sets out to move from Portsmouth to Winchester, not a vast distance, but far enough to get out from under.

The small city of Winchester is dominated by its Cathedral and Violet soon meets and joins the group of women who are embroidering cushions and other accoutrements for the Cathedral. They are broderers, a term I’d not heard before and what they are doing is now called needlepoint. They are led by Louisa Pesel, who is chief designer and instructor for the project and an actual historical figure. Violet also gets to know about bell ringing – those giant change bells in places of worship all over the UK. These two topics alone, described in meticulous and well-researched detail made A Single Thread worth the read.

As a spinster, Violet is subject to the scrutiny and judgement of others because women without hats, or on their own, or with ideas of their own or with no male relative in view, are considered to be highly suspicious. It’s amazing to think how far feminism has come in less than 100 years.

The story is easy to get into and I was sitting back comfortably when, to my amazement and joy, 100 pages in, Violet Speedwell sets out on her own to walk from Winchester to Salisbury and from there down to the coast to get the ferry over to the Isle of Wight! Of course, this behaviour makes her motives especially questionable because women of that time did not set out to walk a long distance just for the pleasure of the adventure. I’m delighted to find that Violet enjoys walking alone, finding it a time to think and reflect and it makes me wonder if Tracy Chevalier has taken up long-distance walking, a popular pastime in the UK these days.

One detail that surprised me in A Single Thread was the name of the main character, Violet Speedwell, very close to author Deanna Raybourn’s character, Veronica Speedwell around whom there is an entire series of books, also highly entertaining and recommended.

There are various themes in this book – women’s rights, lesbianism, family, friendship, love and loyalty – and once again Tracy Chevalier has succeeded both in touching on them and in bringing the past to life in an entertaining story.