The Sultan's Harem

by Colin Falconer

Book Overview

Falconer breathes life into a world of intrigue, sensuality, and violence, where an empire--the Ottoman Empire--can be controlled not by the great sultan, but by the women hidden behind his harem walls.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0609610309
• ISBN13: 9780609610305
• Release Date: July 2004
• Publisher: Crown
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.4" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Book purchase

product received was as advertised, and in great condition. Would buy from this vendor again.

Revenge is Sweet

Sultan's Harem / 1-4000-8312-5 The Sultan's Harem is a spectacular tale of hatred and revenge, as Falconer weaves the tale of a single woman - a slave of the most powerful man in the world - who tears down a powerful empire by careful manipulation of the man who loves her. This one woman, Hurrem, manages to take down an entire empire, all while only ever being seen by a handful of men - the sultan and his personal eunuchs. While all this may seem completely cold-blooding, out heroine staunchly disagrees with the idea that she is a slave now, so why not make the best of it and be a good harem girl? She despises her sultan, the man who tore her from her home as just another bauble to add to his endless harem, the man whom she must keep amused lest she be tossed aside for another faceless girl waiting, claws ready, in the harem to overthrow her. Carefully, coldly, she designs to bear the sultan a child (not necessarily HIS child, if the situation requires), remove his previous favorite, entice him to fall in love, and then maneuver her freedom and unprecedented marriage to the emperor. No longer slave, but wife, she is still a slave in all but name, and she uses her mental hold on her husband to send him spiraling into madness while the kingdom collapses slowly around him. Falconer carefully treads the personal and the political here, as with all his novels, and we see sympathetic glimpses into both the main players (sultan and sultana) and into the lives of the hapless girls living silently in his lavish harem. Each girl has her own history, her own loss, and her own sadness, and - faced with the realities of the harem, and of the monogamous sultan - finds her own pastimes and petty jealousies. Are these women better off than the ones on the outside? They have little freedom, but they are safe and pampered. Since the sultan is not particularly voracious in his appetites, they are not even really 'sex' slaves. Yet the silence and loneliness gnaws at their souls and the passage of time weighs heavily on all involved. Is Hurrem, our dark heroine, really so unusual in her hate, cruelty, and madness? Perhaps all the other women in the harem feel as she does, but does not have the fortune to act out. Gripping and suspenseful, the Sultan's Harem is a compelling read - I could not put it down. I agree with another reviewer in that the story would make a wonderful movie, should anyone ever acquire the rights. Like other Falconer novels, the writing is frank and does not shy away from the 'facts' of life, but the writing is not overly lurid or vulgar, and he does not give into the temptation to throw in gratuitous sex scenes to try to increase readership. ~ Ana Mardoll

Someone please write a screenplay for this book

This would make a great HBO drama series! HURREM! I could picture the scenes when I was reading the book. I read it in English, yet my native language is Turkish. The author was able to give that native author feel with his choice of vocabulary describing architecture, tradition, etc...It may not be the most accurate account of the historical events during Suleyman the Magnificent's rule, yet the contents are so captivating that you could overlook a few mistakes...Well done Mr. Falconer! And please send a screenplay to HBO, Showtime, BBC...! We need to see this on the tube!

Interesting ....

I really enjoy reading historical books .... I read this book in Turkish, not in English (would have been little hard for me if it was in English as I am not a native speaker). Until this day, I have read many many books telling stories about the Ottoman Empire, and after Ottoman Empire - especially the period when Great Commander, our Great Leader Ataturk came into the picture. Authors of those books are all Turkish!!! To my great surprise the author of this book is not even Turkish!!! My compliments to the author being able to write such a historical book from another culture and country with almost no mistakes.

A wonderful book!

The other reviewer is incorrect. this book was published only in the UK and Australia under the title "Harem" over 10 years ago and I'm delighted that it's finally out in the US in this beautiful hardcover, especially since the UK editions are out of print. I suspect the title was changed because there are several books--fiction and non-fiction--called "Harem" in bookstores right now. Colin Falconer is a wonderfully polished historical novelist whose books would make terrific movies. He has a very vivid, cinematic style of writing that doesn't flinch away from gory or bizarre historical details, but at the same time his writing is usually lush, sensual and often quite funny (I like authors with a good dark sense of humor). The Sultan of the title is the great Suleyman the Magnificent of Turkey, and the main characters in the book are the women of his harem, including his honored first wife Gulbehar and two new slaves, Hurrem and Julia. Hurrem is a Russian girl, whose blond hair and fair skin makes her a rare commodity in the harem. Julia is a Venetian girl who was kidnapped while fleeing the city with her lover. While Julia is at first terrified and disoriented by life in the harem, Hurrem sees it as an opportunity. She is unusually clever and malicious, and determined that if she will be a slave in the harem, she will be queen of the slaves, and eventually she plots to turn tables on Suleyman himself. It's a tightly woven plot with lots of twists and turns. I highly recommend this book--it's almost unputdownable and the ending is very satisfying.