The story is set in the second part of the 18th century in Spitalfields, London.

Sara Kemp, as a young girl from the country, arrives in London with an image of “wide, clean streets lined with tall houses, their windows framing elegant parlours.” Instead she lands in some filthy streets straight into the clutches of Mrs. Swann, a brothel keeper.

Esther Thorel has been married to Elias Thorel for four years; a fine master silk weaver. A trade he has learned from his father. And his father’s father “had learned the craft on the famous looms of Lyon (France), but when Huguenots could no longer live in peace in their homeland, his grandfather had escaped bringing nothing with him save this exquisite silk.”

Elias lets a journeyman weaver, Bisby Lamber, use a free loom standing at his attic in exchange for Bisby being able to obtain master status and Elias selling his work.

Esther is a painter herself and once imagined that their union of their talents would be fruitful. But as soon as she shows her husband flowers she painted in a repeating pattern, hoping he could use it as a design for his weaving, that’s when she realizes how wrong she was. As a result she retreats into charity work.

One day, as she is delivering the Bibles to the church, rain catches her. She hides in a tiny alleyway under an overhung house, a style built before the Great Fire. She sees this as a sign from God. And that’s when she meets Sara, who crosses the alleyway.

Esther hires Sara as a maidservant.

Esther sees new hope with the new weaver. She approaches him without her husband’s knowledge. As much as her husband was discouraging, Bisby is very encouraging. He explains to Esther that she needs to transcribe her design onto point paper in order for a weaver to be able to read her design. And at her persistence, he teaches her how to weave.

As any other trade, the weavers’ trade is controlled by masters. The weavers make very little money, never enough to pay fees to become a master, and not to mention to purchase own looms and materials to start a business. This leads to many revolts and a process where two men are involved. One lives, one hangs.

The voices of these two women alternate, weaving a vivid story, which is engaging from the very first page to the very last one. The language is sharp, revealing characters of two strong women.

Esther Thorel is married to Elias, a silk weaver. They are well off and respected. It is a very religious household. Esther is interested in the designs for the silk cloth, but is told it is man's work and she should find something else to do.; Elias has hired , Bisby Lambert, a weaver who wants to become a Master Weaver, but he must prove he is worthy of the title. While passing out bibles on the street, Esther sees Sara, a young woman being beaten by the owner of a brothel where she works. She tells Sara that she could leave that life and get employment elsewhere. Sara shows up on her doorstep and is hired into the household. Sara has a tendency to forget her place to those she owes the most . When she becomes pregnant, she is cast out into the street. Bisby is teaching Esther how to draw a pattern that can be weaved from one of her watercolors. There is a rebellion starting within the weavers groups. When it comes to the door of the Thorel's, secrets and lies come out. People are not always who they seem. Sometimes the innocent is punished instead of the guilty. I loved this book. Great research and insight on the silk industry.at this time in history. I received this book from Net Galley and Blackstone Publishing for a honest review. The opinions are my own.

Blackberry and Wild Rose is a story of two women woven into the history of Huguenot silk weavers in eighteenth century Spitalfields/London. The story is centered around the lives of two women. Sara Kemp who finds herself working in a brothel for a cruel manipulative madam and Esther Thorel, a pious Huguenot wife of a master silk weaver. Drama, romance.and the beauty that comes from hand loomed silk, all woven into this novel. My thanks to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

BLACKBERRY AND WILD ROSE is another historical fiction/romance—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.

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.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Esther Thorel is the wife of a silk weaver who has dreams of converting her artwork into silks of her own. When her husband refuses to accept her patterns in the male dominated profession, she requests the help of his journeyman in secret.
Sara Kemp is a young woman tricked into the life of a prostitute by a spiteful madam. After a chance meeting, Esther decides it's her Christian duty to save Sara by offering her a position as her lady's maid. In the end, when a crime is committed, Sara must choose between telling a lie to save herself or the truth that will end life as she knows it.
I really enjoyed learning about silk weaving and I was rooting for Esther to finish her beautiful silk and be accepted by the silk weavers. This book was well researched and beautifully written and I was surprised that it was her debut novel. I look forward to reading more historical fiction by this author.

Thanks to Netgalley for sharing Black Berry and Wild Rose with me in exchange for an honest review.. I sometimes worry that my knowledge of history is, in fact based on historical fiction, and that I should be at least a bit cautious in assuming the accuracy of events that I read about. That said, this book allowed me to learn all kinds of facts about the silk trade in 18th century London! Ms Velton has written an interesting and engaging story that I enjoyed from the first page to the last. Yes, it was a bit predictable; yes, the voices of the characters could have been a bit more distinct; and no, I do not think it was the greatest piece of writing I have ever read. But for me, I read first and foremost for enjoyment and it is from this perspective that I have the highest praise for Black Berry and Wild Rose. If I learned that Ms Velton had written another book, I would certainly be eager to read it.

The world of the silk weavers in London’s famous East End is the setting for Blackberry and Wild Rose. Esther Thorel’s and Sara Kemp’s lives collide when Esther rescues Sara from life in a brothel to work as her lady’s maid. Esther is married to master silk weaver, Elias, a stern Huguenot. The story goes back and forth between Sara and Esther, and also tells about silk weaving and of the unrest between the master weavers and the journeymen at that time in the silk industry.

This was a pleasant read, and the plot worked very well. I always like it when I’m enjoying a book and learning something as well. The building of a tapestry along with the story leaves you with a satisfying reading experience.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for allowing me to read Blackberry and Wild Rose in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
3.5/5 stars - I rounded up to 4 stars with the hope that some minor things are edited prior to publish date.

Though this is a very well researched historical fiction novel set in the mid- to late-1700s, there are some striking parallels to the very modern sex trafficking we hear of today. Sara arrives in London a naive young lady from a rural area and is swiftly duped by a woman who pretends to assist her. She is now a whore with no real way to escape as there are basically no options for unwed, "tarnished" women. In comes spiritual savior Esther who seeks to rescue her from a life of sin. But is she really trying to selflessly help in the name of Christ? Or does she have her own motives for bringing Sara into her home where marital strife is already present?

The writing is lush and so descriptive that I imagined the smell of the loom. At times I truly felt the anguish of both main characters - Sara and Esther - both trapped in their respective situations, aching for some kind of way out. Then they would get so petty towards one another that I wondered how they believed it could advance their positions. Outside of their squabbles, there is a pretty good mystery coupled with plenty of male pettiness as well. This author does not discriminate based on gender in this area.

This is a really solid debut novel by this author. I look forward to future offerings from her.

4.5 stars rounded down. Trigger warning: rape

I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Blackberry and Wild Rose reminded me of some of the better stuff Tracy Chevalier would write; it's a bit like The Lady and the Unicorn with a dash of Hulu's original series Harlots.

At its heart, Black Berry and Wild Rose is about Sara Kemp, a woman who has been trafficked into prostitution; and Esther Thorel, the upstanding wife of a master silk weaver. Their narratives begin as individual threads but as their lives intersect, they are soon woven together into a tapestry of love, loss, independence, and redemption.

The novel switches first person viewpoints between Sara and Esther, allowing the reader to observe the misunderstandings between them which alternately cause friction and cohesion. Each woman feels unique and developed, and the secondary characters are relatively rounded out as well.

The story is interesting if predictable, and I assume all the formatting errors will be corrected before final printing. It's a quick read, and one I would not hesitate to recommend to lovers of historical fiction and drama.

I love this book. The setting is 18th century London. I enjoyed learning all about silk weaving, the process of silk making, and the equipment used. The story involves the lives of two women; Esther who is the wife of a influential silk weaver and Sara who is working in a bordello for an evil madam. The story includes a barren wife, a marriage without love, a husband who cheats, a wayward woman, a pregnancy out of wedlock, and much more. I liked the intertwined viewpoints. I loved the characters. This is an excellent book. My thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, I found Blackberry and Wild Rose to be an enjoyable book. Sara and Esther are incredible characters, and I really enjoyed their dynamic. The tension that is created between them, even as they do find themselves becoming fond of the other is really interesting. The particular attention to noting how both of them make assumptions based on their personal experiences that don't always align with what the other is intending was really well done and something that I've not seen done much in books with multiple POVs. The world-building was interested, and I liked the attention to detail about explaining the intricacies of silk designing and weaving, as it was something that I knew next to nothing about. However, I did find the story to be a bit slow to take off and I found myself almost waiting for something to happen. Though, once the ball does drop, I almost couldn't read the page fast enough. Unfortunately, that didn't really happen until about 2/3 of the way through the book. I found the Esther's romance to be a bit lacking, since I found there wasn't much development in it and it was hard to root for them because of that. The ending seemed a bit abrupt and tidy, which was -- for my tastes -- a tad out of place given the chaos that had just been occurring. It was a bit of a roller coaster, but I did like it and I'm glad to have read it! I know right off the top of my head friends, co-workers, and regular patrons at the library who I would not hesitate to rec this book to!

I was looking forward to this book quite a bit but once I started to read it I found it a little predictable. Basically The Miniaturist meets Tulip Fever but in England rather than The Netherlands. It was well written though, and I appreciated the author's attention to detail. I'd recommend it to patrons looking for historical fiction and it would make a decent book club read.

Beautifully written, it amazed me that this is a debut novel. Incredibly intimate and lush without being erotica, you see the complicated relationship between the two women unfold. I love the effortlessly intertwined viewpoints - sometimes it was difficult to tell where one woman's view ended and the other's picked up. Excellent book.

*I would like to thank the author/publisher/Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review*

18th century London, abandonment, a loveless marriage, a naive barren wife, a cheating husband, a dashing rogue, an honest man, masters and servants, a fallen woman, an evil madame, an unwed pregnany. I do believe we've covered all the bases in this romantic, quasi historical novel.

I loved learning about weaving silk and designing the patterns.

I enjoyed my time spent with these characters, the book is nicely written. A perfect choice for when you need a break from your heavier reading.

I received Advanced Readers Copy from Blackstone Publishing an NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It's difficult to believe this is a debut novel. The writing is so assured, the characters so convincing, the time period so wonderfully evoked. The plot doesn't go where you would expect it to, even through to the end. And a few scenes, despite (or maybe because of) the lack of much in the way of what we'd consider sex, are among the most sensual I've read. The use of dual first-person narrators did I great job of showing how one person's perceptions are often not the other person's reality, though I do wish the voices had not sounded so much alike, especially given the disparate backgrounds of the narrators. But that did not hinder my enjoyment nor should it stop you from reading it!

Thank you, NetGalley and Quercus, for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

What a powerful and well-written masterpiece. The author cleverly weaves together disparate pieces into a gem of a book. I highly recommend!