The bestselling, breathtaking debut about love and war, and the battle to save a precious legacy. Each lace shawl begins and ends the same way – with a circle. Everything is connected with a thread as fine as gossamer, each life affected by what has come before it and what will come after. 1941, Estonia. As Stalin’s brutal Red Army crushes everything in its path, Katarina and her family survive … path, Katarina and her family survive only because their precious farm produce is needed to feed the occupying forces.
Fiercely partisan, Katarina battles to protect her grandmother’s precious legacy – the weaving of gossamer lace shawls stitched with intricate patterns that tell the stories passed down through generations.
While Katarina struggles to survive the daily oppression, another young woman is suffocating in her prison of privilege in Moscow. Yearning for freedom and to discover her beloved mother’s Baltic heritage, Lydia escapes to Estonia.
Facing the threat of invasion by Hitler’s encroaching Third Reich, Katarina and Lydia and two idealistic young soldiers, insurgents in the battle for their homeland, find themselves in a fight for life, liberty and love.
Praise for The Lace Weaver
‘A beautifully written and utterly compelling story of love and war and resistance that shines a light onto a dark and tragic period of history while also illuminating the enduring power of love and friendship. Unforgettable and emotionally wrenching, and as exquisite as the lace the women of the story weave.’ Kate Forsyth
‘A sweeping historical story set in Estonia and Russia during the tumultuous year of 1941 … This is a meticulously researched novel, and Chater seamlessly incorporates the symbolic motif of the Estonian lace-weaving tradition and the Tartu knitting circle to link the past and present … Recommended for fans of Kirsty Manning and Kate Morton, this is a gut-wrenching tale about a devastating time in history. Full of hope, heartache and the power of keeping traditions alive.’ Books+Publishing
‘From the very first line, I was captivated by this tale of two very different, but equally heroic, women. There is beauty to be found everywhere: in the writing, in the women’s friendship, in the tragedy, and in the motif of the lace shawls, which weaves the story together.’ Natasha Lester, author of Her Mother’s Secret and A Kiss from Mr Fitzgerald
‘A rich, textured and evocatively told story of love, loss and the ties that bind. The setting is exotic and intriguing and presents a unique side of the war … I found it difficult to put this haunting novel down and it will stay with me for a long time to come, I’m certain. Lauren Chater is a bold new force in Australian historical fiction. Bravo on a glorious debut!’ Tess Woods, author of Beautiful Messy Love and Love at First Flight.
‘Beautiful and brilliant … An impressive, powerful and skillfully told anti-war novel from an extremely gifted writer.’ Backstory journal
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Each lace shawl begins and ends the same way – with a circle. Everything is connected with a thread as fine as gossamer, each life affected by what has come before it and what will come after ~ The Lace Weaver.
The Lace Weaver is a powerful story of war told through the experiences of women.
Beautifully written, the novel touched my heart and, long after I finished the book, left me thinking of two unforgettable images. The first image was that of a delicate shawl spreading over the shoulders of a woman, a woman burdened with sorrow, oppression and the fight for survival, not simply the fight for her own survival, but also that of the people she loves. The second image is that same shawl being pulled through a wedding ring, with the hope it will re-emerge triumphantly in its full glory. The shawl is the work of one individual woman, but its creation births through the agency of women who come together, sharing their skills and expertise, and the stories they tell one another. The finely woven threads of the shawl become stories in themselves, linking women from the present, and down the generations. They are threads of faith and love – of belief in the continuation of life.
In 1941, the people of Estonia are desperately struggling to survive the terrible subjugation and oppression of Stalin’s Russia. It is an oppression little hiding its intention to inflict genocide on the proud Estonian people. Then World War Two sees Russia pushed out by Germany – and the people of Estonia hope for better times, only to discover that one hard battle for survival is exchanged for yet another.
Chater tells the story of this time and place through the point of views of two different yet similar young women: Katarina and Lydia. Katarina is a proud Estonian and gifted shawl maker. Living on a farm with her parents, farmers forced to supply the occupying forces with the fruits of their labour, leaving very little for their own subsistence, Katarina must surmount tragedy and work out ways to keep the threads of her existence, and that of others, from fraying beyond repair.
Lydia is the daughter of a powerful and tyrannical Russian leader and his Estonian mistress. Wearing the treasured shawl of her mother, she runs away from the cold, brutal man she does not know is her father, leaving Russia to go to Estonia – pulled by the memories of love and her dead mother’s heritage.
Katarina and Lydia, who soon rejects her unwanted Russian blood for her Estonia birthright, bond in a deepening sense of sisterhood during a time of great heartbreak – both of them suffering great loss and witnessing the worst of what humans can do to one another.
All through the novel, the intricate and delicate Estonia shawl is used as a compelling writing device to bring together the threads of the story, symbolizing the strong connection between the women in the story, and women everywhere. It also symbolizes the fragility of life; life tested but which can still emerge unbroken and magnificent.
The Lace Weaver is impressive, powerful and skilfully told anti-war novel from an extremely gifted writer. I now look forward to reading more of Chater’s works.
Review first published in Issue 5 of Backstory: http://www.backstoryjournal.com.au/category/issues/issue-four/
Beautifully written, meticulously researched, and one of those books I won’t forget in a hurry.
WWII is a popular topic to write about, but this story focused on Estonia’s struggle under Russian, then German, then Russian occupation again, where they remained behind the Soviet wall until 1995. A gorgeous love story, and of loss and survival; a fight for escape right to the end. I really loved it and recommend if you love well-written historical fiction set in WWII.
I could not put this book down! Detailing a part of the second World War I wasn’t familiar with (the annexing and invasion of Estonia), it surprised me and moved me at every turn. A bold story as deftly crafted as the lace shawls depicted within, and just as beautiful. Highly recommended for fans of good historical fiction.