Blackberry and Wild Rose

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What to expect

'Sumptuous and moving' Laura Purcell, author of THE SILENT COMPANIONS

For fans of Jessie Burton and Tracy Chevalier, a rich historical debut set among the Huguenot silk weavers of Spitalfields in the late 18th century.

WHEN ESTHER THOREL, the wife of a Huguenot silk-weaver, rescues Sara Kemp from a brothel she thinks she is doing God's will. Sara is not convinced being a maid is better than being a whore, but the chance to escape her grasping 'madam' is too good to refuse.

INSIDE THE THORELS' tall house in Spitalfields, where the strange cadence of the looms fills the attic, the two women forge an uneasy relationship. The physical intimacies of washing and dressing belie the reality: Sara despises her mistress's blindness to the hypocrisy of her household, while Esther is too wrapped up in her own secrets to see Sara as anything more than another charitable cause.

IT IS SILK that has Esther so distracted. For years she has painted her own designs, dreaming that one day her husband will weave them into reality. When he laughs at her ambition, she unwittingly sets in motion events that will change the fate of the whole Thorel household and set the scene for a devastating day of reckoning between her and Sara.

THE PRICE OF a piece of silk may prove more than either is able to pay.

(P)2019 Quercus Editions Limited

Critics Review

A sumptuous and moving debut. Velton weaves her tale with the threads of betrayal, thwarted dreams and good intentions gone awry
Laura Purcell, author of The Silent Companions
This exquisitely evocative novel will appeal to fans of The Miniaturist
Red
Velton gives [her characters] genuine depth in a moving story of love, secrets and betrayal
Sunday Times
Romance and revenge, hypocrisy and hardship play out against a vividly researched backdrop
S magazine

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