A Single Thread: A Novel

I truly like novels by Tracy Chevalier. I just finished reading "A Single Thread" and it was a wonderful read. It has been a very long time since I sat down and read a novel in less than a day. I never fully understood how difficult it was for women after the end of WWI. The novel takes place 14 years after the end of WWI, the heroine having lost both her fiancée and older brother in the war. It takes place in Britain, where a generation of young men died, both during the war and the Spanish flu epidemic after the war. These spinster women, now in their mid to late 30s, are referred to as "surplus" women. Very few husbands their age available to marry, the economy still not going strong and many of the women not married are either working menial jobs as typists or remaining at home to care for elderly parents (in this book, the heroine's elderly mother lost her oldest son to the war and later her husband to illness). So much happens in this novel that all I can say is all of the characters, with their flaws and fears, are people to like and admire. I found the last page to be so uplifting that I cried - I think because the country was getting closer to WWII and the horrors awaiting, but mostly because in the moment the book ended, the heroine triumphed with dignity and great courage. My only hope is that the author will consider writing a second book with these same characters that carry them through WWII.

This is a story about a not often discussed Situation of the many women left behind after world war 1Having lost their boyfriends or fiances in the war. They turn to each other and to survival In a world where women are not supposed to be self-sufficient. This is a believable story about Violet, a woman seeking independence and happiness against odds.

I knew nothing about Winchester Cathedral, broderers, bell ringing, or surplus women. I enjoyed learning about all of them. However it was the love stories that made the book: so gentle, so lovely, so challenging in those times.

Violet, this book’s plucky protagonist, is an appealing character whose presence, along with that of the author’s well crafted prose, makes the story an easy read. However, the narrative is burdened by long and too detailed passages explaining the intricacies of both embroidery and of the art of ringing church bells. After the novel’s final paragraph, the author lets the reader know that when people of that era talked about embroidery, what they were actually talking about is what we know today as needlepoint. Well. A bit late, but that certainly answered my doubts about whether embroidered kneeling cushions would last a year, much less decades. But it’s odd that the author would be a perfectionist on this particular bit of historical accuracy, when she casts a rather golden glow of a late 1930’s society’s seemingly easy acceptance of both a same sex couple and an unwed mother in their midst. Such widespread tolerance would’ve been unlikely in a setting 50 years later, and even today in many places around the world (including communities in the US), such individuals are not widely accepted. The happy communal embrace portrayed in this novel diminishes the very real struggles to achieve both legal and social acceptance that many have gone through to get to where they are today. And note to the father of Violet’s baby: thanks for ringing the church bell, but when are the child support payments going to start?

I really enjoyed this book. It's a quiet character study of a woman learning to direct her life and strike out on her own after years of sadness following WWI. She finally rebels, in small ways, against societal and personal expectations for spinsters, although we do find out she has been rebelling secretly all along. Small rebellions lead to bigger ones and it's a pleasure watching Violet progress. Winchester Cathedral and it's organization of broderers (women who needlepoint elaborate cushions and kneelers) and bell-ringers, becomes the center of her world and adds great interest to the story. There is perhaps a bit too much coincidence for comfort, but all of it is satisfying. And the ending didn't feel terribly plausible, although it was likable!

I always enjoy Tracy Chevalier’s books but this one is a bit different. It is set in the years following World War I in Winchester ,England. The historical fact she brings to light in this story is the oft overlooked women who, because of the death of millions of men in the war, have no chance for marriage and children. In 2019 that doesn’t seem like a big deal, but for these women it was a course they wouldn’t have chosen and had to learn to navigate on their own. What makes this a bit different is that the setting and story do not have the exotic appeal of her previous books. England a hundred years ago doesn’t really seem that much different than right now. But the characters are very appealing as usual and, although I learned a lot more about bell ringing than I cared to know, the writing is very readable and the modern twist of plot at the end is satisfying.

This book lived up to my expectations after reading a sample online. The main character was engaging, and the book brought to life the difficulties women faced in finding respectable, rewarding employment at a time when war had decimated the population of eligible young men. The heroine finds purpose and joy in the relationships she is able to develop with other women and delights in her discovery of embroidery. She becomes involved in a long term project making kneeler cushions for a local cathedral and finds great satisfaction in this pastime, even finding an opportunity to share it within her own family. She is a woman of substance and fortitude in a time when independence was not particularly celebrated in women. The author includes information on these cushions and embroidery patterns and I enjoyed digging a little deeper and being able to see the patterns and colors online. It was an altogether enjoyable and satisfying story.

(Rounded up from 3.5 stars) The very slow pacing at the beginning of the book, plus the mindboggling details about embroidery and bell-ringing, almost compelled my to give this a three-star rating. But Chevalier painted the protagonist, her love interest, and some of the secondary characters so well that I went for 4 stars. I particularly like the fact that Chevalier didn't write a "happily-ever-after" ending, and the close of the book satisfied me. A Single Thread is a very human book, with a tenderness that kept me reading. Recommended.

Ce roman est bien écrit et très intéressant. Il décrit la vie, le courage et les sentiments d'une jeune femme après la première guerre mondiale avec délicatesse et sans mièvrerie. Un bon moment de lecture.

Good story

A loved this book from the first to the last page. I was sad as I reached the end of the book. I love all the books of this talented writer.

Relata la situación de un grupo muy numeroso de mujeres en la Historia entre guerras, sentimientos, experiencias y situaciones que son muy actuales de mujeres solteras que buscan su propio proyecto vital alejado de la familia de origen, viviendo independientemente, con su trabajo, amistades, relaciones sexuales, y tratando de buscar su sitio con valentía, superando miedos, aprovechando oportunidades, atentas a lo que la vida les ofrece. El lenguaje, en mi opinión, es quizá un poco anticuado o incluso sofisticado, ofrece también explicaciones detalladas de lenguaje musical cuando doblan las campanas, de paisajes campestres y de la técnica del bordado. Me gusta, diferente e interesante.

Il fidanzato di Violet è morto nella prima guerra mondiale, e con lui quasi un milione di giovani inglesi, e altrettanti sono rimasti inabili senza speranza di recupero. Lei è una delle tantissime donne i cui sogni di famiglia, figli, futuro sono stati bruscamente spezzati. Da leggere