Blackberry and Wild Rose

- Blurb -

For fans of Jessie Burton and Tracy Chevalier, a rich historical debut set among the Huguenot silk weavers of Spitalfields in the late 18th centuryWhen Esther, the God-fearing wife of a master silk weaver, rescues Sara from a bawdy house she thinks she is doing God's will. But the secret which binds the two women together could prove to be their destruction. Sara finds the forced intimacy of her relationship with her new mistress almost as difficult as her former life, and soon sees through the household's veneer of morality. Artistic and talented, Esther has been secretly drawing her own silk patterns for years. But her dreams of being a silk designer have always been stifled by her husband - until she makes a decision which could change all of their fates. As the silk weaving industry descends into rioting, both women are drawn into the rebellion, and towards a reckoning day of their own.The character of Esther is based loosely on a real 18th century silk designer, Anna Maria Garthwaite, and the title Blackberry and Wild Rose is the name of one of her designs. The title also represents the protagonists: Sara being Blackberry (somewhat prickly and bitter-sweet) and Esther, a cultivated bloom who becomes the Wild Rose.