Author(s): Tracy Chevalier

Fiction | Claire's Book Talkers

FROM THE GLOBALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING

'Bittersweet ... dazzling' Guardian

'Deeply pleasurable ... the ending made me cry' The Times

'Told with a wealth of detail and narrative intensity' Penelope Lively

Violet is 39.

She lost her fiancé in the Great War.

She is considered a 'surplus woman'.

But Violet is also fiercely independent, intelligent and determined. Escaping her suffocating mother, she moves to Winchester to start a new life - an endeavour which will require courage, resilience and a series of quiet rebellions...

CONSTANT READER STAFF REVIEW - CLAIRE

Built upon core themes of history, art, friendship and family, Tracy Chevalier’s newest novel is a gently moving story which sweeps you up and carries you along with the plight of its characters. The First World War has snatched Violet Speedwell’s brother and fiancé from her, and in the aftermath she finds herself cast adrift as a “surplus” woman, without any hope of marriage. She makes the bold decision to establish a new life of independence in Winchester, away from the demands of her aging mother. Enthralled by the chiming bells of Winchester Cathedral, Violet soon finds solace alongside a group of women embroidering kneelers for the cathedral. Through her newfound passion for needlework, she discovers both the camaraderie of friendship and relives the pain of heartbreak, to become a woman for whom the war signals not an ending, but a chance to begin again.