PenguinReaders' Group
 

Editors' Choice

By Venetia Butterfield, Publishing Director, Viking Books

Tenth Gift

Tenth Gift by Jane Johnson

It was a particularly cold and gloomy Thursday in January 2007 when Jane Johnson’s novel arrived in my inbox, the kind of day when all you can really think about is getting home, putting the kettle on and finding any way to warm up and switch off. And it’s not usually the case that pulling a cumbersome manuscript out of my bag ever helps with either of those things, but that’s exactly what The Tenth Gift did when it sucked me in to the sights, smells and heat of a bustling middle-eastern port. Starting in a village on the Cornish coast in 1625, it tells the story of a young serving girl called Cat Tregenna who, kidnapped by pirates with the rest of the congregation one Sunday morning at church, ends up in the white slave markets of Morocco and unsure whether she really wants to escape this seemingly alien culture to return to the obligations and expectations of those in Cornwall bargaining for her return. Woven in to this historical story is a second, contemporary, love story in which bibliophile Julia finds herself unceremoniously dumped by her long-term lover with only a beautiful 17th century embroidery handbook as consolation prize. It’s only when she settles down to read it that she discovers Cat’s hidden diary scribbled in its margins and Julia finds herself drawn to Morocco and adventures in love of her own. Each of their stories revealed the nuances of 17th and 21st century Moroccan culture to me in a way I’ve yet to see in any other book or film, and the twists and turns of Julia and Cat’s stories were enough to keep me stuck to the sofa and warm all night. But I was even more amazed when I finished the book to discover that Cat Tregenna was based on the true story of one of Jane Johnson’s ancestors who was kidnapped off the Cornish coast by Barbary pirates and transported to Morocco, where the white slave trade flourished in the 17th century. Not only that, but when Jane set out in 2005 to research the story of her ancestor and headed to Morocco herself, she ended up writing her own love story when a Berber rescuer helped her off the Atlas Mountains and they fell in love. Now married, they split their time between Morocco and Cornwall. There’s nothing I love more than an escapist novel that pulls me in, opens up a world I don’t yet know and keeps me glued to the story of the characters within. Thank goodness Jane is already at work on her next one.

» Read more