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The Lacemaker
The year is 1748. Feisty Dutch girl Saskia Klaassens, 19, flees from her abusive home to take a job as nursemaid, sailing with her young charges and Mistress to the Cape of Good Hope. When Saskia begins her new life at the beautiful wine estate in southern Africa, no one knows she hides a secret skill—making exceptionally beautiful lace.
The willful and spirited Saskia feels compassion for the suffering of the slaves, one of whom is Titus, the handsome young stable master. As they grow close, Saskia finds that Titus has secrets of his own—dangerous secrets. Saskia struggles against the narrow-minded whims of her wealthy employers, especially their arrogant son, Pier. For solace, she makes lace; and finds mentors in two unusual older women. When secrets at the estate are uncovered, events spiral out of control, and Saskia must decide where her loyalty lieswith her increasingly violent Dutch kinsmen, or with Titus, the man forbidden to her, the one who ignites her deepest passion.
Throughout, Saskia sees life through the prism of lace; and weaves what peace and beauty she can to the rhythm of her bobbins—while Africa weaves its primeval magic around everyone.
Beautifully written, teeming with historical detail and lyricism, The Lacemaker transports you to a fascinating time and place rarely written about, the 18th century Dutch outpost at Africa’s Cape of Good Hope—a time that fed into recent decades of brutality in South African Apartheid.
The willful and spirited Saskia feels compassion for the suffering of the slaves, one of whom is Titus, the handsome young stable master. As they grow close, Saskia finds that Titus has secrets of his own—dangerous secrets. Saskia struggles against the narrow-minded whims of her wealthy employers, especially their arrogant son, Pier. For solace, she makes lace; and finds mentors in two unusual older women. When secrets at the estate are uncovered, events spiral out of control, and Saskia must decide where her loyalty lieswith her increasingly violent Dutch kinsmen, or with Titus, the man forbidden to her, the one who ignites her deepest passion.
Throughout, Saskia sees life through the prism of lace; and weaves what peace and beauty she can to the rhythm of her bobbins—while Africa weaves its primeval magic around everyone.
Beautifully written, teeming with historical detail and lyricism, The Lacemaker transports you to a fascinating time and place rarely written about, the 18th century Dutch outpost at Africa’s Cape of Good Hope—a time that fed into recent decades of brutality in South African Apartheid.
- GenresAfrica
441 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 28, 2014
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