A Tapestry of Diplomacy, Grief and a Ship Lost to History

A silk dress. A collection of books in a chest of pecious treasures. What brought them together aboard a ship that sank off the Dutch island of Texel?

In 1606, Anne Lambe marries England’s new ambassador to Constantinople and leaves her old life far behind. In a city where gifts open doors and imperial favour offers uncertain protection, her intelligence and extraordinary needlework earn her a place among powerful women. But her husband’s ambitions, and the political intrigues that surround him, threaten their life together.

Three decades later, another ambassador arrives with his formidable wife, seeking refuge from the coming war in England. In the embassy, the possessions of their predecessors lie forgotten. Mehmet, who has served a succession of English ambassadors, remembers the people who once owned them and, as England descends into civil war, those belongings begin their final journey.

Drawing on archival letters, historical research and the archaeological discoveries of the Palmwood Wreck, The Silk & The Sea is a historical novel about the importance of the things we leave behind.