Song of the Silk Weaver

C. P. Lesley

 

Since a raid by a rival Tatar warlord led to Kiraz’s capture at the age of fourteen, she has adjusted to life in the beautiful city of Astrakhan, near the Caspian Sea, as the second wife of a wealthy merchant. Twelve years later, her main complaint is the overbearing first wife who has commandeered Kiraz’s son and the young beauty who leaves her feeling frumpy and forgotten. 

 

When the forces of Ivan the Terrible  invade, Kiraz’s husband leaves with their son, and she has only her skills as a silk weaver to sustain her. A handsome Italian merchant signs on to help her manage her husband’s business—and offers a second chance at love. Now Kiraz must choose: take her chances in a conquered city with a man whose interest threatens her heart or return to the steppe and repair her frayed ties with the family that abandoned her when she needed them most.

 

 

SONGS OF STEPPE & FOREST 7

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FORTHCOMING IN 2026

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“I’d like to see all the Songs of Steppe & Forest as an ongoing television series—I think the colorful descriptions of clothing, meals, and social mores will look great on the screen.”

—G.P. Gottlieb, host of New Books in Literature