Veena’s review of The Silk Weaver’s Wife by Debbie Rix
Women’s Fiction published by Bookouture 19 Jul 17
I expected to enjoy this book when I requested it from NetGalley. What I did not expect was to be half the night in the middle of my work week reading the book from cover to cover. The two women who span centuries could not be more different and yet each one fascinated me in her own unique way.
I enjoyed the detailed background and research almost as much I enjoyed the story itself. Like many of you out there, I thought China dominated the silk industry, only to learn all about Italy and England and the mark they left on silk-weaving techniques and designs. Born in 1704, Anastasia survived the horrors of a daily life under an abusive father and a short sojourn as a wife under a brutal husband. During this time her solace and sanity comes from pursuing a forbidden love of painting. Fortunately for her, when she wins her annulment from the Italian church in Venice, she is able to travel to pursue her love of painting and weaving. Her journey from her home in Verona takes her through the Alps to the Netherlands for a brief sojourn with a renowned artist and botanist in Amsterdam and onwards to London where she learns the art of silk weaving. Finally healed she’s able to return home and pick up the threads with her childhood love and eventually lead a happy, fulfilled life.
In 2017, Millie, a well-known journalist, arrives at the villa which was once home to Anastasia, in pursuit of a story about the silk trade in Italy. Millie is grieving from the ending of her long-standing love affair with her boss. In Italy, Millie quickly finds herself attracted to the owner of the villa, Lorenzo, and loses no time in falling into bed with him, even as she learns about the silk trade in modern-day Italy and its origins. In a hidden corner of the villa, she finds a self-portrait of a beautiful woman with a Venetian backdrop. Who is this mysterious woman and what relationship does she bear to Lorenzo and his sister, who are the current owners of the villa? As I already told you all, I could not stop turning the pages until I finally was at the end.
Of course, Millie’s story is just as complicated as Anastasia’s, as all her wishes come true, only to leave her at a crossroads between what she once wanted and what she now has. Isn’t that a truth we can all attest to at some point in our own lives: “Be careful what you wish for. It might come true.” Fortunately, this is fiction and Millie’s story has a happy ending.
This is my first book by Debbie Rix, and I assure you that it won’t be my last.
Grade: A
Summary:
The unforgettable stories of two women cross centuries as past and present weave together in this beautifully moving summer read.
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…
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…
No excerpt available.
