Silk, by Linda Chaikin, Bethany House Publishers, 1993

Set in the late 1700s, this novel centres around a teenage girl named Coral, of English descent who was born in India.  Her parents own a large silk plantation and export the silk to other countries including their homeland where the silk is made into beautiful fashions.

The story is full of intriguing characters and plots, starting with a young Indian woman from a low caste who converts to Christianity but dies during childbirth.  Coral, with her parents’ permission, adopts the baby.  She is warned against the adoption by Jace, a young soldier who knew the baby’s father.  The baby’s father is mysteriously killed either by insurgents or possibly by his own relatives as an honour killing.  Later the young boy is kidnapped and seems to have been killed, but Coral receives secret information that he may actually be alive.  She is determined to find out.

Jace buys a ship and sails to China and Spain and England.  Coral goes to England where she lives with her grandmother for a few years.  She becomes friends with some Christian dissenters who have broken off from the very traditional Anglican church.  They are the rebels of the day, writing and singing hymns together as a congregation, which the traditional church frowned on.

I enjoyed learning about life and expectations in that era and in those countries.  This is book one in a series.  My curiosity is piqued as to what will happen next.  Will Coral find her adopted son?  Will the mysteries concerning several of the characters be solved?  Will Coral and her mother be healed of the tropical fever that they suffer from?  Although the book is complete on its own, I hope I someday find a copy of book two.