Changes

The author, Jane Johnson, isn't so much 'poacher turned gamekeeper' as someone who enjoys both roles simultaneously. For the past 20 years , she's successfully juggled publishing with being a prolific writer for both adults and children. In ''The Sultan's Wife'' (the second of her Moroccan trilogy, following ''The Salt Road'') she introduces historic figures to fictional and populates an exotic storyscape. Feisty, determined Alys is a fictional representation of many women who shared her fate. Although strong, Alys looks forward to marrying the person her mother has chosen for her, ensuring that, refreshingly, she actually has some 17th -century traits and isn't a thinly disguised 21st -century feminist. Nus-Nus is again an inspiration rather than a fact. Born into African tribal royalty and sold into slavery by other Africans, it wasn't only his freedom that was stolen but his dignity as he was demoted from Prince to eunuch. (Nus-Nus, his slave name, actually means 'Half-and-Half', cruelly referencing his deficiency in masculine assets.) The person who dominates the novel, though, is Sultan Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif, and he was very, very real.

Morocco of the 17th century was indeed a country of contrasts in more than the obvious geographical ways. Its nobles had a huge thirst for learning, employing scholars and building huge libraries, and yet they had a huge capacity for superstition too. They were capable of amazing feats of engineering, but believed that goats could house the souls of dead people and voodoo-like dolls had the power of life and death over enemies. These little details and many more like them are where the novel comes into its own. Jane Johnson is married to a Moroccan and lives there half the year, her adoption and submersion into the culture providing a depth to her work that may not otherwise have occurred so naturally. The chapters are seasoned with factoids for osmotic absorption as the story draws you on. For instance, the word 'harem' comes from the word for 'forbidden', 30 workmen a day died constructing Meknes, and (my particular favourite) there are several ways to geld a eunuch. (It's ok; no need to avoid the novel if you're squeamish. The detail isn't overly graphic.) We Brits have no reason to feel smug though. Restoration England also appears as a setting. Our own 'civilised' country doesn't come off well in comparison. It's portrayed as somewhere slavery is encouraged and where poverty caused as many, if not more, deaths than a despot.

We also liked [[Court of Lions by Jane Johnson]]. If you enjoyed this then perhaps you'd like to try [[The Sheen on the Silk by Anne Perry]] and [[The World Turned Upside Down by Leila Rasheed]].