Sixteen-year-old Meg Moore longs to be published and knows she has talent as a writer. Her own father—a bookseller and sometime publisher—could make her dream come true. But as much as he loves Meg, he cannot abide the idea; it’s almost unheard of for a woman to be so bold. Instead he encourages Meg to consider his apprentice, Will, as a marriage prospect. Meg can almost convince herself that she could be happy running the bookshop by Will’s side. Then word comes that Edward, her best friend’s brother, whom Meg recently rejected as a suitor, has been kidnapped on his voyage home from North Africa. With Meg’s help ransom is raised, and Edward’s return brings a surprising opportunity for her. He wants her to write about what happened to him for publication, determined that his countrymen know the truth of his experiences. Expecting to hear Edward speak harshly of the infidels who held him, Meg is shocked to find that while Edward was cruelly treated at times, it is his own failures that haunt him. More than that, it is the understanding he gained of the depth, richness, and sophistication of North African culture, and the compassion and devotion to God he witnessed among followers of Islam, that he fervently wants to convey. Katherine Sturtevant’s spellbinding story features a young woman determined to challenge the gender expectations of seventeenth-century England who is challenged herself by unconventional, frightening ideas that seem to defy both God and country. In the midst of it all, she is also challenged to understand the desires of her own heart in a captivating and thought-provoking sequel to At the Sign of the Star . (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000). (Ages 12–15)

In Restoration London, sixteen-year-old Meg Moore is something of an anomaly. Unlike other girls her age, Meg pores over books. She spends long hours conversing with the famous authors and poets who visit her father's bookstore, and even writes her own stories, laboring over every word until her hand is black with ink. Without warning, however, Meg comes to learn exactly how powerful words can be. The day her best friend's brother Edward sets sail for Italy, Meg scoffs at his attempts at romance by answering him with a thoughtless jest.

Soon news travels to London that Edward's ship has been captured and he has been sold as a slave in North Africa – and Meg cannot shake the thought that her cruel words are the cause. Now Meg must use her fiery language to bring Edward home, imploring her fellow Londoners to give all that they can to buy Edward's freedom. But once Meg learns to direct the power behind her words, will she be able to undo the damage she has caused, and write freely the stories that she longs to put to paper?

This inspired sequel to At the Sign of the Star continues Meg's story with elegance and élan.

A True and Faithful Narrative is a 2007 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.