THE DAYTIME READ

Tracy Chevalier goes back to 1932 in A Single Thread (HarperCollins, approx €14.99, out September 5), which celebrates the embroiderers of Winchester Cathedral. Here we meet 38-year-old Violet Speedwell, a so-called “surplus woman”, one who is unmarried and will likely remain that way after losing her fiancé to the First World War. She longs to build a life of her own; to resist what society says she must be and escape her suffocating mother, Violet admires the intricate canvas embroidery throughout the Winchester Cathedral and soon joins the Winchester Cathedral Broderers Group. She eventually thrives and begins to craft a new life and identity for herself. Surrounded by a group of like-minded women, she finds friendship and fulfilment in the work they create. Chevalier’s strength is giving life to the day-to-day tasks in the past (see Girl with a Pearl Earring), and she’s in her element in this immersive and moving read.