Sumptuous yet subtle and superbly researched, Blackberry and Wild Rose is set in the Huguenot silk-weaving district of Spitalfields in East London in the 18th century.

Two young women, seemingly very different - Esther, the wife of a wealthy weaver, and Sarah, a prostitute - are brought together by chance. As they negotiate the stifling business of being women in a very masculine world, they fall in, and lose, love, change each other's lives, and, in the end, find they are not so different after all.

This novel is as rich as the silk that ripples through its pages. But it's not afraid to show the cruelty and misery of London life, and a thread of looming threat runs through the fabric of the characters' lives. A delightful read, set in a time and place too much neglected by historical fiction.

My thanks to Net Galley, Sonia Velton and Quercus Books for the opportunity to read BLACKBERRY AND WILD ROSE..
Of course, the cover was the draw for me. It's stunning, and the title piqued my interest immediately. This beautifully written novel documents the lives of two women who live completely different lives, Sara Kemp who was sent to London by her well-meaning mother, but was immersed into the seedy world of prostitution due to her naivete, and Esther Thorel, the wife of a Huguenot silk weaver.
When Esther witnesses Sara being beaten outside the pub over which she plies her trade, she sends her a Bible in the hope of leading the girl to a better path. Sara sees this as her way out, to escape her madam, and goes to Spitalfields where Esther and her husband live, in the hope of being given employment. Esther agrees to buy Sara out of her debt to her madam working as a maid, then ladies maid to Esther. The women have led utterly different lives, but Esther is aware that Sara's poor beginning will hold her back as her own mother was taken out of the same life by her wealthy father. The relationship between the two women is uneasy, particularly at a time of revolt by the weaving journeymen who are sure that men like Esther's husband are finding a cheaper alternative to the silk they weave.
I really got into this story set in the 1700s and the descriptions of the lives people lived and the areas of a very grimy and relatively dangerous London were well written. I would have like the love story between Esther and Bisby to have perhaps been deeper-their affection for one another didn't seem to get very far- but it did not detract from my enjoyment of this well-researched historical fiction. 4 stars

I really enjoyed Blackberry and Wild Rose by Sonia Velton. I learnt so much about silk weaving and its history and the politics surrounding it. Loosely based on a true story it didn't have a happy ending with I felt added to the reality of it.

I will be totally honest and say I had never heard of this author, but this book has enlightened me to a new author who I will definitely be following closely. I love books set in 18th century London, especially in the lower class streets of East London. This book doesn't fail to impress in every single page. We cannot fail to have empathy with Sara, the poor girl who is mysteriously sent off to London by her mother. She is then duped into a life in a brothel run by a notorious Madam who has total control over the girls she uses. Sara is then taken under the wing of Esther Thorel, the wife of a wealthy master silk weaver who is oblivious to Sara's history. However life in the Thorel household isn't easy either and through the voices of Sara and Esther we follow the tragic and heartbreaking tale as each face the hardships of their lives.

The book is beautifully written and draws you right into the tale of how the facade of wealth is really not so far away from that of poverty. I would definitely recommend this book to those who enjoy the historical genre, it gives a wonderful insight into the complexities of the silk weaving trade and those who are part of the wider community.

Many thanks to Quercus and NetGalley for the chance to read an ARC.

I appear to have developed a fondness for historical fiction because Blackberry and Wild Rose is right up there with some of my favourite books. Let me tell you why you should care.

It’s the 18th century. It’s the height of the silk craze (probably had a more whimsical name for it than that), you’re in central London (the super smelly time where people threw literal shit out of the window), and the rich/poor divide is as vivid as a red coat on snow. Enter Esther and Sara; two characters that, by the end of the book, really just need to hug each other and cry it out.

Sara’s a naive, innocent young girl clutching the one coin her mother pressed into her hand before shoving her on a carriage with hopes of her leading a better life in London. Naturally, that was never going to happen, and Sara is quickly swooped up by an evil cow under the pretence of helping the poor sod out. Before the day is over, she’s tossed into the seedy world of ye olde time brothels and her life’s tarnished before it’s even had a chance to begin.

You don’t have to wait long before the other main character makes an appearance which, for my horrific attention span, pretty much makes and breaks whether I stick with a book. I need characters to grasp onto right from the start and this nailed it. Now you’ve got the wife of a prestigious master silk weaver, Esther Thorel, swanning on in with her so called perfect life ready to do God’s work and help those beneath her.

The Thorel household is far from perfect. Lies, adultery, a loveless marriage, some men being super pricks, scheming staff and a hint of sneaky romance on the side. It’s not a house you’d want to live in if you had a conscience.

Both Sara and Esther are trapped in their lives with very little way of changing it for the better and any changes they try to make come with drastic and terrible consequences. We’re talking death. We’re talking riots. It’s great.

This is an amazing little read. The chapters are first person so easy to digest and you’ll quickly feel a sense of attachment to the characters as well as the background characters who manage to imprint in your mind without having a staring role.

What one thing do I wish was different? I could see the ending of the book developing a mile off, and some parts became a little predictable. That being said, it was an excellent ending and one that leaves me clambering for more.

Sonia Velton writes beautifully sumptuous and atmospheric historical fiction set in the late eighteenth century amidst the Huguenot silk weavers of London's East End that reminded me strongly of Jessie Burton's The Miniaturist. It begins in Spitalfield in 1768, and the naive, unlucky Sarah Kemp has been tricked into working in a brothel. The wife of a Huguenot silk weaver, Esther Thorel, rescues the desperate Sarah from being a whore by offering her employment as her maid, an act of Christian charity. However, Sarah is not as thankful as you might expect, harbouring resentment and contemptuous of Esther's inability to perceive the hypocrisy rampant in her own home. A strangely intense and uneasy relationship begins to develop between the two women, full of intrigue, turbulence and drama.

Esther has ambitions of being a silk designer, but her husband is scornful of her desires as he pours cold water on her dreams. However, Esther is determined not to be thwarted as she connects with the journeyman silk weaver, Bisby, but there are huge repercussions that ensue. As depicted by the likes of John Barnstaple, there is anger and rage at the working conditions the silk weavers face, giving rise to conflict and violence. This is a story of flawed characters, a house of secrets, betrayal, deceit, love, loss, power, ambition and hope. Velton makes the London of this era come alive with her rich descriptions, and she has clearly done her research when it comes to the silk weaving industry. There are insights at both ends of the social spectrum and the very real difficulties women face behind closed doors, irrespective of their social position. I found the state of the silk weaving and the politics in the London of this time absolutely fascinating. A wonderful piece of historical fiction that weaves a spell. Many thanks to Quercus for an ARC.

Set in London in 1768 this is the story of Sara, fallen on the hardest of hard times, and Esther, respectable wife of a Huguenot silk-weaver. Dominating their life together in the silk wearing district is the loom in the attic, being used by a journeyman weaver to produce his master piece.

Esther is fascinated by the process of weaving, and the way the design emerges from the rhythmical action of the weaver and his draw boy. When he offers to help her realise pin of her own design, she becomes emotionally involved with him as a person. Sara is simply fascinated by another of the weavers.

As the story develops, the weaver's anger, at their treatment from dealers, grows and explodes into riot, leading to catastrophe, while Sara finds herself in the classic trap of a woman who would have been seen to be to free with her favours.

For me it was the details of the silk trade, the weaving and designing which was at the core of the interest of the story. The details of of daily life, with a Hogarthian hypocrisy running through it, was also interesting. Take a look at his famous sequences of painting to help you to visualise the action. A strong story with lovely historical detail.

Thank you for the opportunity to read 'Blackberry and Wild Rose'. I enjoyed reading this book and loved the historical setting and story. Learning about the silk weavers of London was fascinating and I want to go back to Spitalfields just to imagine what it must have been like then. I was also interested to learn about the day-to-day life of servants and their masters and mistresses, their food, clothes and pastimes. It was great to read that the books was somewhat based on fact.

Thank you to Quercus Books, NetGalley and Sonia Velton for the chance to read and review this book.

This beautifully written piece of historical fiction was a joy to read from beginning to end. The author instantly transported me in to the 18th Century with her vivid and eloquent storytelling and the opening chapter had me hooked. When I read her description of how Sara came to work at the brothel after her arrival in London my heart broke and from that point I was unable to put this book down.

The story is narrated in alternate chapters by Sara and Esther, a choice that I loved. Told in the past tense, it was fascinating to read the same events from different perspectives and see the subtle variations in their accounts. It also showed us how naive the women were in their own ways, neither one understanding or thinking of things from the other’s viewpoint. Both women were flawed, complex and had many layers to their character. This meant I would vary at times between which character I empathised with and enabled me to find something about each of them I could relate to. I did find their intense dislike of each other an amusing part of the story and enjoyed their scathing comments about each other. The decision to make Sara resentful of her new position was a choice I think made the story more interesting and that inevitably fed into some of the conflict between them. Reading how Esther was so fixated on her own version of morality that she was blind to her hypocrisy and sanctimonious behaviour made me infuriated so I understood Sara’s resentment to some of the things she’d say. I enjoyed seeing how both they and their relationship with each other changed throughout the story, especially as things escalated in the story towards the end.

I also like how the book highlighted the difficulty of being a woman in that time period. Rich or poor life was bleak for the fairer sex at that time and the veneer of perfection and opulence projected by women with money and esteem simply hid the truth of their sad and difficult situations. All women were at the mercy of men and if you were married or not you could find your situation precarious and be in the workhouse or the hangman’s noose for a perceived wrong. Yet because women like Sara lived with their flaws and the harsh reality of their lives out for all to see, women such as Esther looked down on them. But men were not immune to struggle either and we saw how the rich master weavers held their power over their employees as well as their wives. They didn’t pay them a fair or living wage and resented the idea that their employees should have any working rights or a say in how much they earn. They viewed the world as theirs and the women and workers were there to simply serve their needs as they deemed fit. In the story these situations led to characters doing things they might otherwise have thought better of and led to devastating and shocking consequences as things spiraled out of control.

The Blackberry and Wild Rose is a delightful and engrossing debut novel with a multi-layered storyline and interesting characters. I loved the author’s writing style and couldn’t stop reading as the plot twisted and unfurled before me. I’ve found this genre to be a favourite of mine this year but until recently I’d mostly read books concentrating on the 19th and 20th Century. This book was based in the 18th Century and was clearly well researched in terms of both the time period and the silk trade on which the story is based. If you enjoy historical fiction then this is a book you should read.

Really the cover sells the book, even before one has read it. What a fascinating glimpse into the silk weavers worlds. The longing that Esther feels to produce something more than just the traditional pattern of silk is so well drawn, and one can imagine the designs she thnks up, using Nature as her palette. I wanted to see the finished articles.
Taking a young prostitute into her household does not work out in the way she had hoped.
Her relationship with her husband is not a happy one, and his dictatorial ways send her to the arms of a journey man. His end comes in a tragic manner. But Esther rises above it all and triumphs in the end.
Thanks to NetGalley for a review copy.

I loved this book. It has a great sense of place and time - I really felt transported to 18th century Spitalfields. It's the second book I've read recently where alternating chapters are told by different narrators. It works well here, moving the story along at a clip and throwing different perspectives on events.
It conjured the same feelings for me as Jessie Burton's The Miniaturist - an intelligent woman stifled in her husband's house. I whipped through this in a few evenings - I needed to know what happened!

As glorious as the pop of a blackberry on the tongue, this artful novel is set amongst the silkweavers of 18th century Spitalfields and relates the lives of two protagonists, Esther, the lady and Sara, reformed prostitute and maid.

This was a page turner for me and I felt so embroiled in it that it was quite a wrench to have to put down and return to 21st century Birmingham.

An exquisite subject delightfully told, with an ending that satisfied too.

Romance and Rivalry amongst the Spitalfields Silks

A multi-layered story of the lives and loves in a Huguenot master silk weaver's house in Georgian London. The book vividly describes the grim situation of women, both rich and poor, and the power wealthy men had over their families and employees in 18th century London. At times it reminded me of Hogarth's paintings of The Harlot's Progress come to life!

'Blackberry and Wild Rose' is the silk-weaving pattern designed by artistic Esther Thorel without her dominating husband's knowledge. The story is seen through the eyes of both Esther and her maid Sara, a girl with a murky past. Both fall in love with journeyman silk workers employed by Mr Thorel. The results are far-reaching and shocking. If you love an easy to read historical romance, with lots of well-researched period detail, like Philippa Gregory's novels or the Shardlake series, you should enjoy this.

Blackberry and Wild Rose....

An engaging historical fiction, Set in Spitalfields during the 1700's.

Sara is sent to London by her mother, upon arrival she is tricked by a Madam into going back to the brothel she runs, here she is offered some hot chocolate... which is drugged, and Sara is robbed of her purse and forced to work as a prostitute.

Esther, a christian wife of a silk weaver, witnesses Sara having ber ears boxed one day, by the Madam, she tracks Sara down and offers her a job working in her houshold.

This story is told from both Sara's and Esthers point of view.

I found the history of silk weaving quite interesting and i enjoyed the book, i gave it three stars as i found it to be a little slow in the middle. But it did pick up again towards the end.
This book takes you on a journey to the old London East End, where you can literally experience the sights and sounds of life back then.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publosher for allowing me to read

I was drawn in by the synopsis of this book. The book started off well with a brief history of the silk trade in the East End but then it evolved into more of a romantic novel. Other reviewers have commented about the relationship between the two women and their social standing but this did not bother me too much. An entertaining tale at the end of the day.

Fascinating insight into the silk production process and the lives of the weavers in Georgian England. The descriptions of London are so evocative one can almost smell the marketplace and feel part of the general hubbub of daily life. Although fictional, the novel also gives an understanding of the class divides and cultural norms of the time, along with the history of the Huguenot people. I found the book extremely engaging and an enjoyable read.

I loved 'The Miniaturist', and 'The Girl with A Pearl Earring', so I was really looking forward to Blackberry and Wild Rose. The setting is fascinating - Spitalfields in the 1700's - and I loved learning about the lives of silk weavers in that era. The book had an exciting beginning and ending, but was a little slow in the middle. I'd have liked more to happen in the central section. I did find one of the main characters (Sara) a little frustrating, in that I wasn't sure *why* she took the risks she did (in terms of informing on others). Her motivation could have been made clearer. Having said that, I do recommend this read - the world is richly described and very immersive.

Just such an incredible historical fiction. I read this in 24 hours because it was just so spellbinding. As a design who has lived around Spitalfields for over a decade, the story had many moments of personal interest for me, recognising the names of streets and places, and imagining that area nearly 300 years ago. The characterisations were fabulous, so engaging and believable. The pace of the story was good, and the flicker back and forth of the two main female protagonists was really easy to just settle into and enjoy the tale unfolding. I particularly liked the different perspectives of the same situation between the characters. Definitely want to explore more from this author.

I must admit that when I received the opportunity to read this book via Netgalley and Quercus Books I was singularly tempted simply by the sheer beauty of the cover. I am so glad that I was tempted, and I thank Netgalley and Quercus Books for the copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is set in 1768 in the Spitalfields area of London, and is based on the silkweavers who lived there at that time. The first character we meet is Sara Kemp, who is sent to London by her mother, and is duped and then drugged by a madam, and ends up working as a whore, with no chance of escape. Her plight was witnessed by a Hugenot master weaver’s wife, Esther Thorel, who takes her under her wing and into her house.

Esther is a frustrated artist who wants to design complex patterns to be woven in silk, but when her husband refuses to take her seriously, she asks his journeyman weaver Bisby to help her, and love grows between them as they work on her silk pattern. Meanwhile, Sara finds herself pregnant to another journeyman, the militant John Barnstaple, who is intent on ensuring the journeymen receive a decent wage from their masters, even if that means resorting to violence.

This book has it all, a master having an affair with a maid, a pregnancy, an illicit romance, a rebellion, a trial, and a hanging. It was a rollercoaster of events, all fitting perfectly together, and making this debut novel almost reminiscent of The Miniaturist in style and equally as compelling.

I found this book rich, poignant and incredibly sensual, and would recommend it for lovers of historical fiction.

What really made this book for me is the history of the silk weavers of East London and the industrial unrest between the master weavers and journeyman. The story in the foreground is easily predictable, a standard tale of rivalry and tentative empathy between a mistress and her personal maid, of a loveless marriage and doomed romance. Velton writes well but technically the voices of the two women of different social strata shouldn't sound the same as they do here: the craft isn't here to differentiate and make them individual. All the same, this is atmospheric easy reading, similar to The Miniaturist though in a different setting. Entertaining switch-off reading.