The Tenth Gift

When her best friend's husband breaks off their adulterous affair, Julia Lovell seeks solace in the antique book that was a parting gift from her ex. The owner of a small crafts shop in modern-day London, Julia soon discovers thatThe Needle-Woman's Glorieis more than a book of patterns to guide young women in the craft of embroidery. Written in the margins is the astonishing journal of Catherine Anne Tregenna, a seventeenth-century servant girl in Cornwall with grand ambitions of becoming a master embroiderer. But Cat's quest takes a harrowing turn when she is kidnapped in a daring raid by Barbary pirates. A pawn in the blood feud between Christian and Islamic cultures, Cat is sold into slavery in Morocco, where she must stake her survival on her artistic gift and her indomitable spirit. Mesmerized by the secret diary and haunted by her own transgressions, Julia follows the threads of Cat's tale to rugged Cornwall and vibrant Morocco. As Julia chases down this lost history, eerie parallels build between the lives of the two women. Weaving together love, intrigue, religious fervor, and cultural conflict,The Tenth Giftspins an exquisite tapestry that questions whether old patterns are ever truly broken.Johnson, Jane is the author of 'The Tenth Gift' with ISBN 9780307405227 and ISBN 0307405222.