A Single Thread

Embroidery. If you have any interest at all in the lives of single women in England before the middle of the 20th century, consider reading a novel by Tracy Chevalier titled, A Single Thread. Protagonist Violet Speedwell is thirty-eight years old in 1932 and realizes that she’s unlikely to marry, given the deaths of so many men of her cohort during The Great War. Living at home with her cantankerous mother becomes unbearable, so Violet moves to Winchester and tries to make a living as a typist. She joins a group doing embroidery for the cathedral and makes friends and learns how to handle a needle and thread. Meeting a bell ringer turns Violet’s life in quite another direction. If any of that sounds appealing to you, pick up this novel, return to the past, and relax to the sound of the bells of Winchester Cathedral. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase A Single Thread from amazon.com.