harem by bestselling australian author colin falconer
DESCRIPTION
Colin Falconer is the best selling author of WHEN WE WERE GODS and AZTEC and over twenty other novels. His books have been translated into seventeen languages. "A page-turner . . . This peek behind the walls of the seraglio will seduce lovers of large-scale historical fiction." - Booklist He had everything a man might dream of; wealth, power and the choice of hundreds of the most beautiful women in his Empire. Why then did he forsake his harem for the love of just one woman, and marry her in defiance of the centuries-old code of the Osmanlis? This is the astonishing story of Suleiman, the one they called the Magnificent, and the woman he loved. Suleiman controlled an empire of thirty million people, encompassing twenty different languages. As a man, he was an enigma; he conquered all who stood against him with one of the world's first full time professional armies - yet he liked to write poetry; he ravaged half of Europe but he rebuilt Istanbul in marble; he had teams of torturers and assassins ready to unleash at a whim - yet history remembers him as a great lawmaker. ''Harem' literally means 'Forbidden': Forbidden to men. Once the Sultan was the only man - the only complete man - who could pass through its iron-studded doors. But what was that world really like? For a woman living in the Harem the only way out was to somehow find her way into the Sultan's bed and bear him a son. But the young Sultan was often away at war and when he did return he neglected his harem for just one favourite wife. But one young Russian concubine inside his seraglio was not content to allow fate decide the course of her life. She was clever and she was ruthless. And she had a plan. Into this world are drawn two unforgettable characters; a beautiful young Italian noblewoman, captured by corsairs and brought to the Harem as a concubine; and the eunuch who loved her once, long ago, in Venice. Loved her? He still stopped loving her . From medieval Venice to the slave markets of Algiers, from the mountains of Persia to the forbidden seraglio of the Ottoman's greatest sultan, this is a tale of passion and intrigue in a world where nothing is really as it seems.TRANSCRIPT
Can he forsake his harem for the love of just one woman, and marry her in defiance of the centuries-old code of the
Osmanlis?
Monday, February 11, 13
He had everything a man might dream of; wealth, power and the choice of hundreds of the most beautiful women in his Empire.
Monday, February 11, 13
Suleiman was ruthless and cruel; he was also a poet, and he loved building more than he loved destroying.
Monday, February 11, 13
And he was lonely.
Monday, February 11, 13
Hurrem was just one of 300 girls in the Harem. Competition to share the Sultan’s bed was fierce.
Monday, February 11, 13
The concubines lived in a luxurious palace. It was hell. All any of them wanted was to find a way out of it; to somehow find her
way into the Sultan's bed and bear him a son.
Monday, February 11, 13
So much depended on chance; and Hurrem was not prepared to wait for chance.
Monday, February 11, 13
Beauty was common currency in the Harem.
Monday, February 11, 13
What she had instead was intelligence, guile and a quick wit. She may not have been the most beautiful girl in the harem, but she was the smartest - and the most ruthless.
Monday, February 11, 13
But she had many obstacles to overcome. One was just to be chosen.
Monday, February 11, 13
If she was chosen, how could she keep the Lord of Life’s attention?
Monday, February 11, 13
How could she replace his friendship for Ibrahim Pasha, his boyhood friend?
Monday, February 11, 13
How could she replace his current favourite, Gulbehar?
Monday, February 11, 13
And how could she spin her web when she the harem was so far removed from the Sultan’s palace?
Monday, February 11, 13
This is the astonishing true story of Suleiman, the one they called the Magnificent, the most powerful man on earth with a harem of 300 of the most beautiful women in the empire - and he gave all of them up for just
one woman.
Monday, February 11, 13
From medieval Venice to the slave markets of Algiers, from the mountains of Persia to the forbidden seraglio of the
Ottoman's greatest sultan ...
Monday, February 11, 13
... this is a tale of passion and intrigue in a world where nothing is really as it seems.
Monday, February 11, 13
Meet Colin Falconer
Born in north London, Colin worked for many years in TV and radio and freelanced for many of Australia's leading newspapers and magazines. He has been a novelist for the last twenty years, with his work published widely in the UK, US and Europe. His books have been sold in translation in Brazil, Belgium, the Czech republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain and Turkey.
He travels regularly to research his novels and his quest for authenticity led him to run with the bulls in Pamplona, pursue tornadoes across Oklahoma and black witches across Mexico, go cage shark diving in South Africa and get tear gassed in a riot in La Paz. He also completed a nine hundred kilometre walk of the camino in Spain.
He lived for many years near Margaret River in WA, helped raise two beautiful daughters with his late wife, Helen. While writing, he also worked for many years in the volunteer ambulance service. "I'd be at my desk typing, then thirty minutes later I'd be crawling into an overturned car."
Monday, February 11, 13
He had everything a man might dream of; wealth, power and the choice of hundreds of the most beautiful women in his Empire. Why then did he forsake his harem for the love of just one woman, and marry her in defiance of the centuries-old code of the Osmanlis?
This is the astonishing story of Suleiman, the one they called the Magnificent, and the woman he loved.
Suleiman controlled an empire of thirty million people, encompassing twenty different languages. As a man, he was an enigma; he conquered all who stood against him with one of the world's first full time professional armies - yet he liked to write poetry; he ravaged half of Europe but he rebuilt Istanbul in marble; he had teams of torturers and assassins ready to unleash at a whim - yet history remembers him as a great lawmaker.
''Harem' literally means 'Forbidden': Forbidden to men. Once the Sultan was the only man - the only complete man - who could pass through its iron-studded doors. But what was that world really like?
For a woman living in the Harem the only way out was to somehow find her way into the Sultan's bed and bear him a son. But the young Sultan was often away at war and when he did return he neglected his harem for just one favourite wife. But one young Russian concubine inside his seraglio was not content to allow fate decide the course of her life. She was clever and she was ruthless. And she had a plan.
Into this world are drawn two unforgettable characters; a beautiful young Italian noblewoman, captured by corsairs and brought to the Harem as a concubine; and the eunuch who loved her once, long ago, in Venice.
Loved her? He still stopped loving her .
From medieval Venice to the slave markets of Algiers, from the mountains of Persia to the forbidden seraglio of the Ottoman's greatest sultan, this is a tale of passion and intrigue in a world where nothing is really as it seems.
Click here for Free Excerpt of Harem
Monday, February 11, 13