"A Single Thread: a Novel," Viking, by Tracy Chevalier
Violet Speedwell seems an unlikely heroine at the opening of Tracy Chevalier's "A Single Thread." She's moved 12 miles away from her overbearing mother to rent a small room and eke out a living as a typist for an insurance company. Friendless and penniless — she makes so little money that she's literally starving — Violet's life seems small and pitiful. Yet pity is the last thing Violet wants. She yearns to build a more meaningful life for herself — a task that's far from straightforward for an unmarried woman in 1932 England.
Violet is a kind of pre-feminist heroine who is forced by circumstance to craft an independent life. A so-called "surplus woman" whose generation of male peers was decimated in World War I, Violet lost a fiance and a beloved brother in battle 15 years earlier — events that all but sealed a "spinsterhood" of taking care of her cantankerous mother and living off the charity of her surviving brother — a brother whose ability to reclaim his life's trajectory after the war appears to be smoother than Violet's.
Yet, acting without a rule book, Violet takes small steps to shift the needle on her happiness. After moving to Winchester — home to one of England's grandest cathedrals — she's drawn into a society of broderers, women who volunteer to embroider kneelers and cushions for the Cathedral.
An embroidery circle may seem like an unlikely path to independence, but it ends up being so much more than a satisfying hobby for Violet. She pursues it with the passion of a woman whose motherhood has been stolen from her. A woman who wants to leave a piece of herself behind. As one of the Latin-spouting broderers tells Violet as she is finishing off her first embroidered contribution to the Cathedral: "It may be the only mark we make. Sic parvis magna ... From small things, greatness."
Chevalier is a master of subtlety. It's the small things — the victory of an even stitch or the reverberating impact of a cathedral bell — that allows the reader to hop aboard the Violet empowerment train. Violet's path takes some unexpected turns — both subtle and dramatic — and en route our heroine meets other women who, in their own ways, refuse to let accepted societal norms restrict their lives or crush their spirits.
The best-selling novelist has done a masterful job of depicting the circumstances of a generation of women we seldom think about: the mothers, sisters, wives and fiances of men lost in World War I, whose job it was to remember those lost but not forgotten.
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont announced Monday he will run for reelection this year, squelching speculation that the 82-year-old progressive icon might retire at a time when the Democratic Party is anxious about the advancing age of its top leaders.
Hailing from a Democratic stronghold, Sanders' decision virtually guarantees that he will return to Washington for a fourth Senate term. And his announcement comes at a critical moment for Democrats as the party navigates a growing divide over Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.
Sanders has criticized President Joe Biden's handling of the U.S. relationship with Israel even as he's hailed much of Biden's domestic agenda ahead of what could be a tough reelection fight for Biden against presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Sanders said he wants the war in Gaza ended immediately, massive humanitarian aid to follow and no more money sent to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"We are living in a complicated and difficult political moment," Sanders told The Associated Press on Monday. “I very strongly disagree with Biden in terms of the war in Gaza.”
At home, he said, the presidential election is between Biden and Trump, “and Donald Trump is in my view the most dangerous president, has been the most dangerous president in American history.”
With the prospect of Trump's possible return to the White House, Sanders framed his bid to return to the Senate as being driven by concerns about the future of democracy in the U.S. In an announcement video, he said that in many ways the 2024 election “is the most consequential election in our lifetimes.”
“Will the United States continue to even function as a democracy, or will we move to an authoritarian form of government?” he said. He questioned whether the country will reverse what he called “the unprecedented level of income and wealth inequality” and if it can create a government that works for all, and not continue with a political system dominated by wealthy campaign contributors.
Known for his liberal politics and crusty demeanor, Sanders has been famously consistent over his 40 years in politics, championing better health care paid for by the government, higher taxes for the wealthy, less military intervention and major solutions for climate change. He has also spent his career trying to hold corporate executives to account, something that he’s had more power to do as chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
Sanders is an independent. He was a Democratic congressman for 16 years and still caucuses with the Democrats.
He sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020. He said a year ago that he would forgo another presidential bid and endorse Biden’s reelection this year.
“I have been, and will be if re-elected, in a strong position to provide the kind of help that Vermonters need in these difficult times,” Sanders said in a review of his positions as chairman of the important Senate panel and a member of the chamber's Democratic leadership team, as well as a senior member of various other committees.
AP writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed from Washington.
FILE - Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., smiles as he addresses Unite Here Local 11 workers holding a rally, April 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. Sanders is running for re-election. The 82-year-old, from Vermont, announced Monday, May 6, that he's seeking his fourth term in the U.S. Senate. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
FILE - Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a news conference, Jan. 25, 2024, at the Capitol in Washington. Sanders is running for re-election. The 82-year-old, from Vermont, announced Monday, May 6, that he's seeking his fourth term in the U.S. Senate. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)
