Jane Johnson - The Tenth Gift

THE TENTH GIFT by JANE JOHNSON reviewed on show by Corinna Christopher 3rd Dec

The book starts with Julia Lovat being dumped by her lover Michael after a 7 year affair. His parting gift is a book of secrets which will change Julia’s life. This book consists of a text of embroidery skills written in the 17th Century and embelished in the margins by Cat Tregenna who uses it as a personal diary with her minute and careful thoughts recorded day by day.

Cat Tregenna lived near Penzance and was a maid to a wealthy family. Her talent for embroidery was great and she commenced her writings in 1625 when given the book by her cousin Robert Bolitho who wished to marry her. Cat was a feisty ambitious young girl with ideas of leaving Cornwall to travel further afield in search of adventure.

One Sunday whilst at church, several Barbary sailing ships came into the Bay and the pirates proceeded to kidnap the entire congregation of a local church. They were transported away in the most appalling conditions and sold into slavery in Morocco. Many died on the voyage but Cat was one of the lucky ones after capturing the eye of the Moorish captain who in due course installed her in his fine house. Her excellent needlework skills soon had her teaching the local women and she was able to enjoy a more comfortable lifestyle.

Meanwhile her childhood sweetheart decided to pursue her to Morocco and after various setbacks succeeded in finding her, all to no avail as she did not wish to be with him any longer.

Julia was entranced with Cat’s book and decided to visit Penzance with a view to finding out more. She contacted her cousin Alison who lived in the area and was able to make progress on the origins of the story. Her former lover Michael now appears eager to contact her since he has in his possession further information regarding the local history of Cat.

Julia in her pursuit of the true story then travels to Morocco and Michael follows her keen to unravel the mystery and perhaps make some money from it all. Julia like all romantic stories meets up with a handsome Berber guide who helps her in her quest. There is some surprising unravelling of truths in this tale and Julia makes some big decisions about her future.

The novel is written alternatively with the convincing voices of both Julia and Cat but easy to follow the narrative throughout. The descriptions of everyday life are good as we are transported form Stewart England to the exotic heat and dust of North Africa. The Berbers have a saying “that God gave the world ten gifts, and the tenth of those gifts is books …..”

A fine and very readable book, the author is from Cornwall. In 2005 she was in Morocco researching the story of a distant ancestor kidnapped by Barbary pirates and sold into slavery (the basis for this book) when she had a near-fatal accident. This caused her to change her life. She gave up her job and moved to Morocco where she found and married her own Berber pirate !.
Review by Corinna