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catherine_t's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
England, 1932: Violet Speedwell is a "surplus woman." Having lost both a brother and a fiance to the Great War, at 38 she faces a dismal life of spinsterhood, caring for her difficult widowed mother. In a desperate attempt to dodge such a future, Violet moves from Southampton to Winchester, home of one of England's great cathedrals, where she finds a job as a typist with an insurance company and a room of her own at a boarding house.
It is at the cathedral where she encounters the broderers: a company of women who volunteer their time to embroider cushions and kneelers. In joining the Winchester Cathedral broderers, Violet finds friendship and a purpose--and possibly, love. But as the threat of a second Great War looms on the horizon, Violet must decide what she's willing to risk for her newfound life.
I really enjoyed this book. I've visited Winchester Cathedral on a number of occasions, but I'm ashamed to say I've never taken note of the kneelers. (I shall attempt to rectify that the next time I'm able to visit.) Violet's history was an all-too-common one in those interwar years: with millions of men dead in the trenches of France or damaged beyond imagining, many women were relegated to the ranks of spinsters, becoming objects of pity or scorn.
Chevalier's prose is as luminous as a cathedral's stained-glass windows. You'll be pulling for Violet as she tries to break free of her domineering mother and carve out a new life.
It is at the cathedral where she encounters the broderers: a company of women who volunteer their time to embroider cushions and kneelers. In joining the Winchester Cathedral broderers, Violet finds friendship and a purpose--and possibly, love. But as the threat of a second Great War looms on the horizon, Violet must decide what she's willing to risk for her newfound life.
I really enjoyed this book. I've visited Winchester Cathedral on a number of occasions, but I'm ashamed to say I've never taken note of the kneelers. (I shall attempt to rectify that the next time I'm able to visit.) Violet's history was an all-too-common one in those interwar years: with millions of men dead in the trenches of France or damaged beyond imagining, many women were relegated to the ranks of spinsters, becoming objects of pity or scorn.
Chevalier's prose is as luminous as a cathedral's stained-glass windows. You'll be pulling for Violet as she tries to break free of her domineering mother and carve out a new life.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Antisemitism, Death of parent, and War