New York: Viking, (2019) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - A novel which opens in Winchester, England in 1932 in the years between the wars. "Life as an independent woman in 1932 is hard. A typist for Southern Counties Insurance, Violet barely makes enough money to cover her rent at Mrs. Harvey's boardinghouse. [This] masterfully portrays the bleak lives of the 'surplus women' left to carry on after a generation of young men - their potential husbands - were killed in World War I, mostly forgotten women with unending penny-pinching, mended dresses, and lonely evenings. Yet a chance glimpse into a special service at her church opens the door to Violets healing: She finds the broderers, a group of women embroidering gorgeous, colorful seats and kneelers for the church. The broderers' guild offers Violet a chance to make something beautiful and lasting in a world that has been dark and has cut off life at its knees for too long - the embroidery circle becomes a metaphorical tapestry, threading all these women together. Soon Violet has not only joined the circle, but also made unexpected friends. Violet also discovers her own courage to try for love, a love her society would condemn, but in these days and in this authors hands, all love is sacred. A compelling portrait of women not lost but thriving against the odds." (Kirkus)" SIGNED by the author on a blank preliminary page. 321 pp. ISBN: 978-1984881038.