Publication Date: December 23, 2023
Love, heroism and the supernatural collide in the midst of war.
‘Paranormal elements are expertly woven with real history to create a convincing and exciting tale’ GuardianÂ
‘A darker take on Raiders of the Lost Ark … a fine piece of work’ SFX
There’s a tradition in the Sharp family that some possess the Second Sight. But is it superstition, or true psychic power?
Kit Sharp is in Paris, where she is involved in a love affair with the stunning Evelyn Larsen, and working as an archivist, having inherited her historian father’s fascination with the Bayeux Tapestry. He believes that parts of the tapestry were made before 1066, and that it was a tool for prediction, not a simple record of events.
The Nazis are also obsessed with the tapestry: convinced that not only did it predict the Norman Conquest of England, but that it will aid them in their invasion of Britain.
Ivy Sharp has joined the Special Operations Executive – the SOE – a secret unit set up to carry out espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance. Having demonstrated that she has extraordinary powers of perception, she is dropped into Northern France on a special mission.
With the war on a knife edge, the Sharp Sisters face certain death. Can their courage and extrasensory gifts prevent the enemy from using the tapestry to bring about a devastating victory against the Allied Forces?
A tapestry showing the conquest of England serves as the framework for a unique story set in World War II.
Author Kate Heartfield combines historical elements with fantasy in The Tapestry of Time. Set in France in 1944, the story revolves around the four Sharp sisters who come from a family of clairvoyants.
Chapters alternate among Kit, Ivy, Rose, and Helen, so readers need to pay close attention. As the Nazi interest grows regarding the Bayeux Tapestry, the sisters, particularly Ivy and Kit, play key roles in keeping it out of enemy hands.
The magical realism unfolds through visions, dreams, and foretelling of the future, all skills that could easily put the women in harm’s way. However, embracing their gifts could make all the difference in defeating the Germans.
Kit’s love interests offer an interesting sense of liberation not typically emphasized in books set in this time period.
The Tapestry of Time weaves a tale of the Second Sight along with a group determined to fight back against Hitler.
Kate Heartfield is the author of the Sunday Times bestselling The Embroidered Book, the Aurora-winning novel Armed in Her Fashion (published in the UK as The Chatelaine), and the Nebula-shortlisted novella Alice Payne Arrives, along with dozens of other stories. Her most recent novel is The Valkyrie, and her interactive fiction projects ‘The Road to Canterbury‘ and ‘The Magician’s Workshop‘ were shortlisted for the Nebula in game writing. She lives in Canada.
