"1932. Since the Great War took both her beloved brother and her fiancé, Violet Speedwell has become a 'surplus woman,' one of a generation destined to remain unmarried after the war killed so many young men. Yet Violet cannot reconcile herself to a future spent caring for her grieving, embittered mother. Setting out for Winchester, home to one of England's grandest cathedrals, she finds both a job and a room of her own in a boardinghouse. Violet also falls in with the broderers, a disparate group of women charged with embroidering cushions and kneelers for the cathedral, and is soon entwined in their community and their secrets. She finds friendship in her new circle, fulfillment in the work they create, and--having long ago dismissed the possibility--love. As the almost unthinkable threat of a second Great War appears on the horizon, Violet must decide what she is willing to risk to protect the life she has fought to make for herself"--Dust jacket flap.
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