I am a sucker for historical novels, and believe it or not, this one was extremely worthwhile. It deals with the plight of women in 15th century London. Women did not have many options back then, you can marry a wealthy man or serve as a mistress to a wealthy landowner or work in some trade. Figures in Silk centers on the lives of two very different sisters. One is beautiful, flighty, and bored with her new husband, Jane Shore, who quickly catches the eye of the newly crowned Edward IV and serves as his mistress. Her younger sister, Isabel, follows a different path when she marries into the house of Claver, one of England's finest silk-trading enterprises. When tragedy strikes and her husband is killed, Isabel finds herself thrust into an unexpected role in her late husband's family business, run by her mother in law. She discovers a new life and decides to apprentice as a silk woman. She learns the trade from the ground up and eventually becomes one of the more powerful members of the merchant class in the silk trade. Any reader who enjoys a strong female protaganist combined with historical events and details, will be fascinated by this tumultuous time period in London. While you might be frustrated by some of Isabel's decisions, ultimately I believe you will be more than satisfied by the rich historical detail that Bennett provides both in terms of the silk trade and the political intrigue surrounding the crown.
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