This gripping novel propels the reader back into the 16th century and the opulence of the empire that ruled the civilised world for several centuries from its Turkish centre. The lives of three people -- the Emperor Suleyman, and two former slaves, his wife Hurrem and his Prime Minister Ibrahim -- become intertwined in a lifetime of passion, conflict, conquest and defeat that was the political motor force of European, African and Middle Eastern history. It would end with murder in a fit of violent jealousy. Louis Gardel's ...
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This gripping novel propels the reader back into the 16th century and the opulence of the empire that ruled the civilised world for several centuries from its Turkish centre. The lives of three people -- the Emperor Suleyman, and two former slaves, his wife Hurrem and his Prime Minister Ibrahim -- become intertwined in a lifetime of passion, conflict, conquest and defeat that was the political motor force of European, African and Middle Eastern history. It would end with murder in a fit of violent jealousy. Louis Gardel's style is as stark as the emotions of his main characters and the society and time in which they lived. Cruel practices ruled this centre of power, where the victors often physically eliminated not only their rivals but also all of their rivals' male relatives to forestay any eventual challenges to their new rule. High civil servants were appointed then beheaded if they made costly mistakes, plots and machinations in the harem often led to exile or execution, tasters met their fate eating poisoned food destined for their masters, and so on. The centre of the Turkish Empire was aswirl with finery and degradation, lofty poetic ideals and base plots, devotion to the Q
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