Crossed Bones

When Julia Lovat is dropped like an unlucky penny by Michael, her lover of several years, he gives her a book - The Needlewoman's Glory - which belonged to a Cornish girl some 400 years past. Drawn to uncover the story of its owner, Julia's quest takes her on a journey she could never have imagined. The Cornish girl is nineteen-year-old Cat Tregenna, servant to Lady Harris of Kenegie, on the Cornish coast. Her fiery temper and determination to be more than a country wife are matched only by her skills with a needle. Yet the thread of Cat's life unravels dramatically in the summer of 1625. For Barbary pirates raid Cornwall and take Cat and some sixty villagers captive. Thrown into the terrifying hold of a corsair, Cat must survive sea battles and the month-long journey to Morocco, before being sold into slavery. But first she catches the eye of the war gallery's captain, a man on a sacred mission to kill and enslave the infidel. Crossed Bones is the entwined story of two young women: of an adventure that began 400 years ago on the craggy Cornish coast and will end in the dusty bazaars of modern-day Morocco. It is a seach for secrets - and it is a story about finding love where you'd least expect it.