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donnaratcliff's review
4.0
Set in Spitalfields, London during the late 1760’s Blackberry & Wild Rose takes us on a journey through the world of the silk weavers during the troubled times when the importing of cheaper Indian calico cotton was threatening the future of the silk weaving industry. It’s a world we see through the eyes of both the owners of the silk businesses and the journeyman weavers. At the heart of the story are Esther and Sara who although living very different lives share some similar traits. They are both strong independent women who have dreams which they are determined to follow despite it being a time in history where women weren’t really seen as being capable of being independent nor was it seen as being ‘proper’.
I thought the story was well written and I found the narrative about silk weaving fascinating, in fact I will definitely be searching out some non fiction books on the subject now. I wasn’t totally sure about the ending, don’t want to go into spoiler territory but it just seemed that all the threads were woven together a little too neatly, like topping the parcel with a bow and somehow I didn’t quite feel as if that’s what would have happened. Overall though it was a really interesting, satisfying and enjoyable historical fiction story with a good feel of time and place.
I thought the story was well written and I found the narrative about silk weaving fascinating, in fact I will definitely be searching out some non fiction books on the subject now. I wasn’t totally sure about the ending, don’t want to go into spoiler territory but it just seemed that all the threads were woven together a little too neatly, like topping the parcel with a bow and somehow I didn’t quite feel as if that’s what would have happened. Overall though it was a really interesting, satisfying and enjoyable historical fiction story with a good feel of time and place.
thechemicaldetective's review against another edition
5.0
Even without the brilliant central drama - and this book has drama in spades - it would still be a fascinating read: an exquisite exploration of the Huguenot silk weaving industry in London at the end of the eighteenth century.
But the story, oh the story!
Two women, a lady and her maid, weave the tale in alternating chapters. As it builds to a courtroom climax, I found myself alternately shouting at them (to the dismay of my sleepy husband) before weeping for them.
Esther is trapped in idleness, taking on "the piety of her husband's people as easily as she had slipped into the fine silks they made" obediently following their advice "you cannot change him, so you must learn to live with it...like a piece of grit in your shoe, painful and annoying, but you must carry on regardless." But Ester has a secret, a talent that sets her apart.
Sara, a country lass, "blessed with neither great brains nor great beauty," is first tricked into prostitution and then trapped in service. "What did I care? I had nothing to lose."
The working conditions of eighteenth century servants and journeymen - the practical enslavement of the powerless by the powerful - lead, inexorably, to passion and violence.
And yet..there is hope.
I adored this book, and never wanted it to end.
But the story, oh the story!
Two women, a lady and her maid, weave the tale in alternating chapters. As it builds to a courtroom climax, I found myself alternately shouting at them (to the dismay of my sleepy husband) before weeping for them.
Esther is trapped in idleness, taking on "the piety of her husband's people as easily as she had slipped into the fine silks they made" obediently following their advice "you cannot change him, so you must learn to live with it...like a piece of grit in your shoe, painful and annoying, but you must carry on regardless." But Ester has a secret, a talent that sets her apart.
Sara, a country lass, "blessed with neither great brains nor great beauty," is first tricked into prostitution and then trapped in service. "What did I care? I had nothing to lose."
The working conditions of eighteenth century servants and journeymen - the practical enslavement of the powerless by the powerful - lead, inexorably, to passion and violence.
And yet..there is hope.
I adored this book, and never wanted it to end.
bearbookshelf's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
thebookboy's review against another edition
3.0
I'm a big fan of historical fiction and in many ways Blackberry and Wild Rose didn't disappoint. The sumptuous descriptions of silk patterns, the smell and decay of London, the dark interiors of whore houses, the grandeur of city mansions - all of these settings come alive in the pages and make for a very compelling backdrop. In fact, the first half of the novel is arresting and exciting, and we quickly see how the fates of the two main characters (a girl who is effectively kidnapped and made to work as a whore who later becomes a lady's maid called Sara and the wife of a silk master, Esther) intertwine.
There were beautiful moments too, and some of the meditations by both of the main characters were interesting and added a nice level of humanity to them.
However, around the page 200 mark things sort of fall apart. It seems almost like the story loses direction and things fast become over-the-top and dramatic, and this is a detriment to an otherwise well realised narrative. Reading the afterword by the author, I see that she has sort of shoehorned the narrative to include events that weren't necessarily concurrent with the inspiration for her main character, and this sort of shows. To be honest, it was the characters themselves that started to let down the story at this point too.
My biggest gripe is with Sara. Somehow we're meant to believe that a woman who has been basically forced into becoming a prostitute makes a string of weird decisions that only are included to add unnecessary drama. For example, straight away when she becomes household staff she realises that she would be earning way, way less and doing horrible work anyway - Yet this ponderance is never really visited again and she settles into this new role despite pointing out her life would actually be better is she stayed at the whorehouse. She herself states that she'd have more freedom..and she doesn't even mind the work that much.
Fine, I guess. We all want to make more moral choices.
Following this, we are then meant to believe she becomes beguiled by some random silk journeyman and gets pregnant by him...and yet has no idea how to possibly abort an unwanted baby (despite realistically having probably encountered endless unwanted pregnancies while working in the brothel..even if not her own..the other girls surely?)
Hmm.
Then, after all this, we're meant to believe at the end her mother has missed her (not enough to look for her though, eh?), is fine with taking her back into her home with a random baby and that she was only sent away to protect her from being being raped by a master...who is now dead...and still her mother gave no shits about tracking her down.
No.
Esther too has some radically stupid moments. After pressing her forehead against that of some boring weaver who barely had any characterisation throughout in her attic we're basically meant to believe they have some Romeo and Juliet style burning passion which hardly comes through in the pages. She barely meditates on the fact that some bloke is just nice to her and instead it's a sort of insta-love situation and I felt at times like I was reading a melodramatic play rather than a properly realised relationship between two people - it had Tulip Fever vibes (Deborah Moggach) but was somehow even more silly. Following this, a strange prison scene takes place near the end where he gushes cliche crap at her and she very mournfully accepts it all and returns these feelings. There's then a thinly veiled shoehorn plan to try to rescue him from his fate, but alas...no dice. Hur hur. It just felt lazy and like the writer was trying desperately to add drama to something which was already a bit over-the-top in the first place.
In the end, this novel was an enjoyable journey but not one that had a satisfying conclusion. You won't find much to tax you as a reader here, and the story bumps along predictably enough with some silly twists and turns that make it feel more farcical than believable, despite the real life inspirations and true historical events.
3.5 stars.
There were beautiful moments too, and some of the meditations by both of the main characters were interesting and added a nice level of humanity to them.
However, around the page 200 mark things sort of fall apart. It seems almost like the story loses direction and things fast become over-the-top and dramatic, and this is a detriment to an otherwise well realised narrative. Reading the afterword by the author, I see that she has sort of shoehorned the narrative to include events that weren't necessarily concurrent with the inspiration for her main character, and this sort of shows. To be honest, it was the characters themselves that started to let down the story at this point too.
My biggest gripe is with Sara. Somehow we're meant to believe that a woman who has been basically forced into becoming a prostitute makes a string of weird decisions that only are included to add unnecessary drama. For example, straight away when she becomes household staff she realises that she would be earning way, way less and doing horrible work anyway - Yet this ponderance is never really visited again and she settles into this new role despite pointing out her life would actually be better is she stayed at the whorehouse. She herself states that she'd have more freedom..and she doesn't even mind the work that much.
Fine, I guess. We all want to make more moral choices.
Following this, we are then meant to believe she becomes beguiled by some random silk journeyman and gets pregnant by him...and yet has no idea how to possibly abort an unwanted baby (despite realistically having probably encountered endless unwanted pregnancies while working in the brothel..even if not her own..the other girls surely?)
Hmm.
Then, after all this, we're meant to believe at the end her mother has missed her (not enough to look for her though, eh?), is fine with taking her back into her home with a random baby and that she was only sent away to protect her from being being raped by a master...who is now dead...and still her mother gave no shits about tracking her down.
No.
Esther too has some radically stupid moments. After pressing her forehead against that of some boring weaver who barely had any characterisation throughout in her attic we're basically meant to believe they have some Romeo and Juliet style burning passion which hardly comes through in the pages. She barely meditates on the fact that some bloke is just nice to her and instead it's a sort of insta-love situation and I felt at times like I was reading a melodramatic play rather than a properly realised relationship between two people - it had Tulip Fever vibes (Deborah Moggach) but was somehow even more silly. Following this, a strange prison scene takes place near the end where he gushes cliche crap at her and she very mournfully accepts it all and returns these feelings. There's then a thinly veiled shoehorn plan to try to rescue him from his fate, but alas...no dice. Hur hur. It just felt lazy and like the writer was trying desperately to add drama to something which was already a bit over-the-top in the first place.
In the end, this novel was an enjoyable journey but not one that had a satisfying conclusion. You won't find much to tax you as a reader here, and the story bumps along predictably enough with some silly twists and turns that make it feel more farcical than believable, despite the real life inspirations and true historical events.
3.5 stars.
annecarts's review against another edition
3.0
This book is set in 1700s Spitalfields, with the silk makers and the early origins of the trade union movement and it was that which drew me in, as I love historical fiction especially when it's places I know.
This is a solid debut and the sense of place was great. Perhaps a little predictable in places but enjoyable nonetheless.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is a solid debut and the sense of place was great. Perhaps a little predictable in places but enjoyable nonetheless.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
terracottalily's review against another edition
3.0
I think the foreshadowing of something happening was heavy handed. It didn't add a layer of intrigue, just doom that made it hard to read. Conflicting narrators was nice but only used to it's full effect once or twice.
taylor_doose's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
I found this book a bit of a slog to get through. The first half was so slow but the second half got more interesting.
It was a very interesting premise for a book but the characters were so unlikeable, except for Bisby, that I found it hard to care about anything going on.
It was a very interesting premise for a book but the characters were so unlikeable, except for Bisby, that I found it hard to care about anything going on.
laurenjpegler's review against another edition
DNF @ 154
Tried so hard to get into this book but can’t. Dunno what it is exactly, just cba reading it tbh
Tried so hard to get into this book but can’t. Dunno what it is exactly, just cba reading it tbh
starryeved's review against another edition
3.0
How it must be to see only beauty in the world.
I always found historical fiction utterly immersive: once you submerge yourself in the genre, there is no backing out. You either love it, or you... don't, really.
I am of the latter. Many historical fiction works have been eclipsed by overused tropes like star-crossed romances, or feminine wiles and plotting and betrayal, male violence and dominance, and treacherous gossiping among ladies who have nothing better to do all day.
Blackberry and Wild Rose is another one of these works—yet, more. Told alternatively between Sara Kemp, a girl naively tricked into a brothel, and Mrs. Esther Thorel, the respectable wife of the famed Huguenot silk merchant, Elias Thorel. When Esther rescues Sara from the brothel and employs her as her personal maid, their relationship quickly unravels, and resentments build. Alongside Esther's ambitions to weave silk and her gathering romance with visiting weaver Bisby Lambert, and Sara's own uneasy relationships with those around her, what ensues is a mess of conflicting ambitions, betrayals, and scandalous indiscretions blown out of proportion by society.
(Sound familiar? Replace the silk weaving narrative, and this would be half the other historical romance novels out there.)
That is not to say Blackberry and Wild Rose is bad—definitely not. The writing was rich and sumptuous, entirely fitting to the elegance and embroidered beauty of silk. The characters—especially Sara and Esther—were well-written: headstrong, flawed, sympathetic. I did not necessarily like them, but they were layered and believably written, each with compelling goals and subplots that really interconnected well with one another. And the classic societal conflicts—the just world of silk merchants and trade unions—were, well, necessary enough, and entertaining enough for me to skim over.
You can judge certain books by their covers. This one speaks for itself. I actually quite enjoyed it after the second half, once drama really began snowballing. A definite yes for historical fiction fans—I'm just not the best reference in this case.
ARC received from Blackstone Publishing on NetGalley.