The Weaver's Dream

Carpetmakers' Trilogy #2

by Donna Baker

The Weaver's Dream was first published in paperback under the name Donna Baker. London, 1824. Life has taken Rebecca far from her humble start in a weaver's cottage in Kidderminster. But although she has found love and comfort with her husband, Francis, it has meant they are both banished from the town that raised them. Instead they must raise their family - and a new business in the bustle of the capital. But when a death finally draws them home to Worcestershire, they find the landscape unchanged, but the poverty increased. Amid the smoke of the factories and the clatter of machinery there is also the growing murmur of unrest as the workers search for a way to express their discontent. For Rebecca, Francis and their young family it means being torn between family duty and sympathy for the weavers' plight. And while they have a dream for the future, will it be strong enough to survive the turmoil ahead?

480 pages, Paperback

First published August 8, 1991

About the author

aka Nicola West, Lilian Harry,

Donna Thomson was born in Gosport, near Portsmouth Harbour, England, UK. Growing up during the terrifying years of the Blitz in a two-up, two-down terraced house, the youngest of four, she aspired to be a writer from an early age.

As a young woman she worked in the Civil Service and moved to Devon to be near her sailor husband. They had a son and a daughter. When the marriage ended, she and her two children moved to the Midlands, where she happily married again to her second husband. After living in the Lake District for twelve years, she finally moved back to Devon, and now lives in a village on the edge of Dartmoor. She lost her son Philip in 2008, and has two grandchildren. A keen walker and animal-lover, she now has a dog and three ginger cats to keep her busy, along with a wide range of hobbies she enjoys.

She started signing her romance novels as Donna Baker and Nicola West, now she also writes as Lilian Harry (inspired by the first names of her grandparents). Among her works are historical novels, romances and even two books giving advice on how to write short stories and novels.

Reviews

[Z.K. Dorward]

DNF - pagr 16.
The dialogue in this drones on and on and has no colour to it. It was incredibly hard to keep up with who all the characters were - was Bessy Tom's girlfriend, or his sister? I have no idea.
I'm really disappointed because this story had so much potential! I'm sure that there are people out there who would really enjoy it, but the writing style left something to be desired for me.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting history of carpet weavers in Kidderminster and the struggle for families to survive.