Blog
A Pattern of Secrets Cover Reveal
4th February 2018
Most exciting event this week was Thursday’s big reveal of the cover of A Pattern of Secrets, on Kate Noble’s fabulous blog, The Quiet Knitter.
I am absolutely delighted with the cover, for all the reasons I mention in the blog. It seems so perfect for the novel, which is set in Paisley in the 1870’s, when the shawl industry was failing and the Paisley weavers were facing destitution.
I also love this description of the novel: –
Can the secrets of the past save the future?
The worlds of rich and poor collide in this gripping Victorian adventure as Jim and Jessie unravel the past and its pattern of secrets…
Paisley 1876. 12-year-old Jim has escaped from the Poor House and now he must save his little brother from the same fate.
His only hope lies in a mysterious family heirloom—a Paisley-patterned shawl that has five guineas sewn into its hem—the price of freedom.
Now Jim must find the shawl and break into the big house to steal it back…
But the girl with the red hair is always watching…
The girl is Jessie Rowat, real life daughter of a Paisley shawl manufacturer, who grew up to become an accomplished artist and embroider. She was one of the famous Glasgow Girls and she and her husband, the artist Fra Newbery, were close friends of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Jessie went on to found the embroidery department of the Glasgow School of Art.
Her story was fascinating to research and seems particularly relevant this year, the 100th anniversary of women achieving the right to vote. Jessie Rowat was a keen supporter of women’s suffrage and her clothes designs were ahead of their time, designed for modern women seeking an active, unrestricted life.
Although the story I’ve written is entirely fictional, I’m hopeful that reading it will inspire children to discover more about Jessie Rowat, the rest of the Glasgow Girls and Boys and the fascinating history of the Paisley pattern.
There are so many fascinating stories, waiting to be discovered.
