Chevalier's new novel follows one of the generation of "surplus women," who lost their men in World War I and had to make new lives for themselves... Tracy Chevalier Says 'A Single Thread' Can Make ...

Tracy Chevalier says she learned the needlepoint stitches used by the women in A Single Thread while researching the book. Violet Speedwell is a "surplus woman." She lost her brother and her fiancé to ...