Scheherazade

Reviews / Votes

It is 20 years since Scheherazade spun her tales for 1,001 nights; the tales that saved her life and immortalised the city that she had never seen - until now. Scheherazade and her husband, King Shahriyar, arrive in Baghdad to a rapturous welcome from the caliph and his people, but within hours the queen is kidnapped from her bathhouse and disappears. An ancient prophecy leads the caliph to despatch a motley crew of sailors on a rescue mission. Scheherazade goes along and finds her life in danger once more. This is a remarkable and mysterious first novel, elegantly written and vividly characterised. Riffing on the Arabian Nights has been done before, but never with as much aplomb as here. As well as being a considerable piece of storytelling, this is a striking testament to the power of the imagination.