Books

Blackberry and Wild Rose – Sonia Velton, Quercus – out now

NEWLY arrived in London in 1786, teenager Sara is snatched off the street and forced into becoming a prostitute.

Desperate to escape the brothel, she throws herself on the mercy of Esther – the unhappy and frustrated wife of a Huguenot silk weaver, and begs her for a job as a maid in her household.

But among the seedy alleys of Spitalfields, trouble is brewing. Both women, who have developed entanglements with silk weavers, are caught up in tumultuous events.

With a richly detailed evocation of the era – including the shockingly grim reality of life for the poor and the repression of women of all classes – this assured and multi-layered