by Liz Trenow
Turning restlessly in the attic bed, she felt empty and emotionless, as though travelling at such an unaccustomed pace had caused a part of her soul to be left behind. She had waited so long for her ‘big adventure’ to start. But now that she was actually here, everything seemed so strange and unfamiliar, even frightening, that she longed to be back in the comfortable familiarity of the countryside.
Praise for Liz Trenow
‘What a delicious read The Silk Weaver is. I was enchanted by this novel set in eighteenth-century Spitalfields; meticulously researched, richly detailed, the brilliantly structured story shimmered as the threads of silk wound through its pages. I devoured it in two days and was gripped from start to finish. The characters shine too and Anna is an absolute triumph. A fabulous book’
DINAH JEFFERIES
‘I absolutely love the details about silk weaving . . . Liz Trenow conjures up atmosphere concisely and brilliantly, with not a spare word to be found. I felt enriched when I reached the end of this gem of a novel, and can’t wait to read her next one’
GILL PAUL
‘Push back the gorgeous brocade curtains of The Silk Weaver’s period detail and romance and you find a window on eighteenth-century London that, with its prejudice and divisions, is surprisingly pertinent today’
KATE RIORDAN
‘Liz Trenow sews together the strands of past and present as delicately as the exquisite stitching on the quilt which forms the centrepiece of the story’
LUCINDA RILEY
‘I absolutely loved The Silk Weaver. Liz writes beautifully, and I adored the characters of Anna and Henri – their love was so delicately and believably evoked. The background motifs of the silks and the floral designs, and the political/social context which made their relationship so difficult, is also brilliantly done. I really couldn’t wait to get back to it each evening’
TRACY REES
‘Extraordinary, fascinating . . . deeply rooted in history’
Midweek, BBC Radio 4
‘An assured debut with a page-turning conclusion’
Daily Express
‘Totally fascinating . . . a book to savour’
KATE FURNIVALL
‘A novel about the human spirit – Liz Trenow paints with able prose a picture of the prejudices that bind us and the love that sets us free . . . Splendid’
PAM JENOFF
‘An intriguing patchwork of past and present, upstairs and downstairs, hope and despair’
DAISY GOODWIN
‘The aftermath of war can be ferocious. This gentle and thoughtful story concentrates on the positives, without ignoring the destruction and pain of an epic conflict’
Daily Mail
THE DRESSMAKER OF DRAPER’S LANE
Liz Trenow’s family have been silk weavers for nearly three hundred years, and run the oldest family-owned silk company in Britain, one of just three still operating today. Liz worked as a journalist for regional and national newspapers, and on BBC radio and television news, before turning her hand to fiction. She lives in East Anglia with her artist husband, and they have two grown-up daughters.
Find out more at www.liztrenow.com, like her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/liztrenow or join her on Twitter @LizTrenow.
Also by Liz Trenow
The Last Telegram
The Forgotten Seamstress
The Poppy Factory
The Silk Weaver
In Love and War
First published 2019 by Pan Books
This electronic edition first published 2019 by Pan Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-5098-7982-3
Copyright © Liz Trenow 2019
Cover images: moodboard/Getty Images; Richard Jenkins; Vesna Armstrong/Trevillion Images
The right of Liz Trenow to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damage.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Artwork © Hemesh Alles
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