The Glittering Strand

A desperate fight for her birthright and freedom... Spiced with the colour and sensuous splendour of the sixteenth-century silk trade, Judith Lennox's The Glittering Strand is the triumphant story of a young woman's fight for independence. Perfect for fans of Rachel Hore and Kate Morton. Serafina Guardi and her father, a wealthy silk merchant from Marseilles, are sailing to Italy to celebrate her betrothal when their ship is captured by Barbary corsairs. Serafina finds herself plunged into the unknown, brutal world of the North African slave states. From there, she begins the long struggle to free herself from servitude. Serafina's wit and beauty are tempered by her ruthlessness - a ruthlessness which eventually threatens to lose her both her lover and her child. Embattled by the prejudices of the age and by the ambitions of her treacherous cousin Angelo, Serafina fights against poverty, loneliness and despair, vowing to regain her lost inheritance - the Guardi silk house - at whatever cost. What readers are saying about Judith Lennox: 'Ideal escapism' '[Judith Lennox] is the ultimate storyteller... her stories are compelling and beautifully descriptive of both characters and feelings' '[Judith Lennox's] characters are marvellously drawn, and their lives draw the reader totally into the story'