Do you believe in ghosts? Rationally I have to say I don't. Perhaps, though, it's just possible that the aura of someone still lingers in the things they leave behind and that are passed on to each new generation. Maybe this is a stretch of the imagination? Jane Johnson's The Tenth Gift is a wonderfully entertaining read even if it may on occasion require a stretch of the imagination. I'm usually willing to suspend belief somewhat for a story that keeps me captivated and makes me turn the pages as rapidly as I did even if I questioned some of the smaller details and motivations.
Although a work of fiction, the book is based on historical fact. Two stories set 400 years apart run parallel in The Tenth Gift. Quite often with two competing narratives one will be the stronger of the two, but Johnson fairly seamlessly wove the two storylines together so they meshed into one larger picture. The novel is set in 21st century London and 17th century Cornwall. What prompted me to pick up the book in the first place is that a the heart of this novel exists a book of embroidery patterns, which links two heroines (both needleworkers), and the promise of an exotic adventure to far away Morocco.
I'm familiar with the fact that pirates participated in the trade of humans as slaves, though I didn't realize they were so bold as to actually raid the southern coastline of England as well. A captured ship meant prize money for the victors, whatever their nationality, who would return home with the ship and its contents. The sailors and other human cargo caught by pirates, however, might be considered chattel. If they were lucky their families would pay ransom to have them released and pity the poor souls whose family couldn't pay up. I've even read that when he was a soldier Miguel de Cervantes was captured and ransomed before his famous days as an author.
Twenty-first century heroine, Julia Lovat, is given an antique book of embroidery patterns as a farewell gift from her married lover when he decides to call things quits. Julia is crushed despite the fact that it's her own childhood friend that he's married to and hoping to make a fresh start with. Although I did come to like Julia, she wasn't always the most subtle of people and had a few blundering moments in the story. Her 17th century counterpart, Catherine Ann Tregenna, known as "Cat", mirrored her in some ways. Only nineteen she works as a servant in the house of a wealthy man in Penzance. She's a talented needlewoman and hopes to make her escape from her provincial life by her work with needle and thread on an altar cloth she has been commissioned to create. She notes her ideas for stitching patterns in a small book, where she also writes down details of her life.
Cat feels more imprisoned than ever when the mistress of the manor decides her wayward manner needs to be reined in and betroths her to her cousin. Although a handsome man, she wants more than a stifling life married to a boring man with nothing to look forward to than bearing his children. Be careful what you wish for however, adventure will come to her in a harrowing manner when she along with 59 other townspeople are stolen from their Sunday worship by corsairs--Muslim pirates from the Barbary Coast.
Now both the heroine's paths are set in motion. Cat must endure a voyage in the stinking, dirty hold of a ship en route to Salé in Morocco and faces the possibility of being sold. It's only her fine ability to use needle and thread that will give her any chance of real survival. Julia is trying to make sense of her life knowing what a muddle she's made of things. When her ex-lover realizes the real value of the book and tries to get it back using whatever method he can, Julia decides she has nothing to lose and travels to Morocco trying to trace what happened to Cat.
Unsurprisingly there will be a clash of cultures and religions between the women in both centuries and those men each encounter in Morocco. I thought some of the situations might have been a bit contrived and quite predictably there is a definite element of romance to the story, the decisions the women making not really surprising me. Still, I really loved the exotic descriptions of Morocco particularly modern day Morocco. And it's not often I can read about needlework in novels, so I was especially pleased with that aspect of the story. If you're looking for a good beach/vacation read this will sweep you away to another time and place!