BLACKBERRY AND WILD ROSE

Shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish prize in 2015, and longlisted for the Mslexia prize in 2016, this literary historical novel reads like GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING meets THE CRIMSON PETAL AND THE WHITE.

BLACKBERRY AND WILD ROSE is the story of a household of Huguenot master silk weavers living in eighteenth century Spitalfields. The emotional heart of the book is the (often fractious) relationship between Esther Thorel, the mistress of the household, and her lady’s maid, Sara Kemp.

When Esther rescues Sara from a bawdy house she thinks she is doing god’s will, but the secret which binds the 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.

Esther is based (very loosely) on a real 18th century silk designer, Anna Maria Garthwaite. The title, BLACKBERRY AND WILD ROSE, comes from the name of one of her designs, which she recorded in volumes of ledgers along with the name of the mercer she sold them to. The title also represents the protagonists: Sara being Blackberry (somewhat prickly and bitter-sweet) and Esther the Wild Rose. The novel will appeal to readers of Tracy Chevalier, Sarah Dunant, and TULIP FEVER.

Sonia Velton grew up between the Bahamas and the UK. After graduating from university with a first in law, she got sucked into the legal world and qualified as a solicitor at an international law firm, specialising in human rights and discrimination law. Sonia relocated to the Middle East in 2006. Eight years, and three children later she then returned to the UK and now lives in Kent.