Colin Falcon at has given the reader an easy to read novel of historical fiction that gives graphic insight Into the dark inner workings of the Ottoman Empire. The story centers around a slave girls caught in a raid and given over to the Sultan Harem. Burden as she was called rose in power until she ran the empire right from the sultan harem. She would eventually rise to queen. She rises to power by use of deception, trickery and !murder.
There are some side stories that play into the main story. In Venice a young Moorish Abbas falls in love with a noble woman named Julia. It does not end well for Abbas. He is !mutilated by the woman's disapproving father. He can never marry nor have children.
Years later they find themselves in Istanbul. Abbas works in the kings harem. Julia is caught in a slave raid. Abbas provides for her release and care under a friend named ludivici. Abbas to keep Julia alive must play along with her intrigues.
In the end Hurems machinations lead to civil war and the death of Suleiman sons. She becomes the first woman to become queen. Most of the Sultans wives were slave girls.
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