Why a Booktrail?
1704, 2017: Two stories, two women, two intertwining stories like silken threads
The Silk Weaver’s Wife
What you need to know before your trail
1704: Anastasia is desperate to escape her controlling and volatile father and plans to marry in secret. But instead of the life she has dreamed of, she finds herself trapped in Venice, the unwilling wife of a silk weaver.
Despite her circumstances, Anastasia is determined to change her fate…
2017: Millie wants more from her relationship and more from her life. So when her boss Max abruptly ends their affair, she takes the opportunity to write a feature in Italy.
Staying in a gorgeous villa, Millie unexpectedly falls in love with the owner, Lorenzo. Together they begin to unravel an incredible story, threaded through generations of silk weavers.
And Millie finds herself compelled to discover the identity of a mysterious woman in a portrait…
Locations
Reset- Italy - The Lakes
- A: Veneto - Verona
- B: The Lakes - Lake Garda
- C: The Lakes - Lake Como
- Italy - Venice
- D: Church San Zan Degola
- E: Grand Canal
- Netherlands
- F: Amsterdam -Kerkstraat
- G: Maria Sibylla's House
- England - London
- H: Spitalfields Market
Travel Guide
Well, this is like a very stunning, evocative tour of the Italian lakes and Venice! And London. And Amsterdam!
Verona
Ah Italy just sings from the pages! Even the names of the villas in the novel are fitting – The Villa di Bozzolo which translates as House of Cocoon….
Venice
Ah the city of a lot of the main scenes in the novel – there’s a lot of scenes set here and you’re fully immersed into the streets, villas and nooks and crannies.
The Lakes
Lake Garda is the place Anastasia rides to and it takes her some three hours to do so, but the Villa Limonaia is going to be a place which lingers..
Villa Limonaia stood on the edge of the lake among lemon and olive groves. The villa had a small landing station and she could hear the waves of the lake slapping the underside of the wooden jetty.”
Lake Como also stars – where some dramatic moments take place in a villa near to Cernobbio and Rovato village
Italian silk
There’s so much magical moments immersed in the fascinating silk trade of Italy. the detail, history, pride and honour wrapped into each and every thread is exquisitely done. Lots of research but lightly woven into the plot.
The city of Florence and the northern region of Piedmont also prided themselves on the quality of their silk, but Veneto considered itself pre-eminent. In fact it was said that the extraordinary career of the sixteenth century architect Palladio, who designed over four thousand villas in the are for wealthy clients, was based almost entirely on the production of silk in the Veneto region.
London – Spitalfields
Spitalfields was in fact a hub of creative activity in the early eighteenth century – James Leman was a talented silk designer of the time and Maria in he novel becomes friends with him very aptly ensuring fact and fiction nicely weave together just like silk itself.
The author was inspired by her discovery of the artist Maria Sibylla Meria (1647-1717) who was born in Frankfurt and her father was a successful printer and artist who died when she was only three years old. Her mother married the painter Jacob Marrel who painted flowers and he taught Maria to do the same. She then married Jacob’s apprentice, had two daughters and they became artists in their own right. Quite an artistic family!
Many years later, she did indeed move to Amsterdam and created a technique of how to paint directly onto silk. She was particularly fascinated by silkworms and entomology in general.
Find out more about the Silk Trade
To find out more about the silk weaving trade?
The Silk Worm Museum, Vittorio Veneto
The Macclesfields Silk Museum
The Victoria & Albert Museum
Dennis Severs’ House, Spitalfields – an ‘historical imagination’ of what life would have been like for a family of Huguenot silk weavers.
Trail Gallery
Booktrailer Review
Susan:@thebooktrailer
I’ve just spent the most luscious three days cocooned in this novel which details the interwoven stories of two women across the centuries and tied to the silk trade in some way. Right that’s enough of the silk related puns but it’s hard not to do as this novel just oozes and evokes everything about the magical history of such a fascinating theme.
There’s some really emotional scenes in this book too – harm and suffering of both women with one going to great lengths to escape her situation. There’s lots going on here, lots of emotions and edge of the seats moments where the chapter ended jumped to the other story at just the right, end of the bridge moment before splash the next chapter comes along.
The evocative writing is just gorgeous – the scene setting has as much flourish as a gondolier trying to entice you onto the Grand Canal.If ever there was a novel I’d like to step inside, this is it.
There is such detail about the silk trade here too – what a fascinating history and story to this! – but this weaves seamlessly into the plot (sorry there’s another silk reference again). I particularly loved the story set in the past and how many real life characters in the silk trade were placed alongside the fictional ones.
Oh and the locations! Italy the lakes, Amsterdam, Spitalfields Market in London…!
Seamlessly written and researched. Rix weaves magic and more. The locations are lusciously Italian and the story twists and turns like the ragged mountain roads past the calm flowing lakes to the bustling city of Venice and beyond. “Evocative and captivating” barely does the book justice
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Silk Weaver’s Wife
Author/Guide: Debbie Rix Destination: Venice, Italian Lakes, Amsterdam, London Departure Time: 1704, 2017
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