Thobe? Or not to Thobe? by Trisha Ashley

We asked Trisha Ashley to tell us about the inspiration behind her latest book, A Leap of Faith.

I’m delighted that The Urge to Jump is being republished and ebooked under the fresh new title A Leap of Faith – and with a lovely, sparkly new cover. It was the second of my romantic comedies and very hard to get hold of, so at last I have an answer to those endless requests to know where readers can get a copy!

My heroine, Sappho Jones, is tall, bossy and opinionated – so very different to me (though friends might beg to differ on at least two counts…). Luckily, Sappho has a big heart to match and when she moves to an old cottage on the Gower, in South Wales, she sets out to help her two best friends achieve their dreams…even if they don’t realise exactly what it is they want, before she takes a hand!

There are a couple of points of similarity between myself and Sappho that I don’t mind admitting to: I love to walk about barefoot, too, connected to the earth - and also, we both own a strange, kaftan-like robe called a Thobe. (And no, I have no idea how you pronounce that. Toe-bee, or not Thow-be, that is the question…)

I had no idea of my robe’s origins when I bought it in a charity shop well over thirty years ago, I just knew that it was beautiful and I wanted it. And I wore it: to parties, when I had people over for dinner, when I just wanted to feel mysterious. I have a photograph of me somewhere wearing it, sitting in front of one of my larger paintings and holding my son, who is a few months old. It was a very forgiving garment.

This was all in the dark ages before computer research made finding information literally child’s play, so I put in some time at the library and finally discovered similar robes (which the author called Thobs) in a book on Palestinian costume. Mine seemed to be Bedouin, made by women for women - and the original owner must have been very tall, because it’s a little long on me. Back when I bought it, I used to wear it with shiny black and gold Indian leather mules with small wedge heels. And my method of hairdressing then, and for a couple of decades, was to brush my hair back, give my head a good shake so that it fell from a central parting, then let it hang loose and long. I have fine hair, though, while Sappho has thick, glorious hair with a Rapunzel complex. 

Anyway, back to the Thob or Thobe: going by the book, mine was most similar to robes made in the 1920’s, but I expect the designs were handed down and repeated. The material is a thick, heavy black satin fabric, with most of the embroidery sewn before the sections were put together. It is entirely handmade and the embroidery sewn in minute cross-stitch in shaded silks, with flowers, birds and baskets of fruit. The neckline is hemstitched. It’s a work of art, and I love it. And it must love me, because – see! - in the picture I can still get into it, despite all the years and the extra pounds.

Now I’m folding it up into its acid-free tissue paper, along with the memories it invoked, and placing it back in the big, camphorwood-lined carved chest on the landing. My Pandora’s box, though not of troubles, but delights.

A Leap of Faith

by Trisha Ashley

Sappho Jones stopped counting birthdays when she reached thirty but, even with her hazy grip on mathematics, she realises that she's on the slippery slope to the big four-oh! With the thought suddenly lodged in her mind that she's a mere cat's whisker away from becoming a single eccentric female living in a country cottage in Wales, she has the urge to do something dramatic before it's too late.

The trouble is, as an adventurous woman of a certain age, Sappho's pretty much been there, done that, got the T-shirt. In fact, the only thing she hasn't tried is motherhood. And with sexy potter Nye on hand as a potential daddy - or at least donor - is it time for her to consider the biggest leap of all? It's either that or buy a cat . . .

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