Shadow Spinner, by Suzanne Fletcher, is one of my favourite books. Below, is the story. In italics, I explain the story of the 1001 nights, which, if you know it, makes the book more enjoyable.
A king called Shahryar was happily married, until he discovered that his wife was in love with someone else. In a fit of rage, he executed both his wife and her lover. He was convinced that he could never trust a woman again.
Apparently kings weren't supposed to not have a wife. Or maybe Shahryar was slightly mad. Whatever the reason, Shahryar ordered his Vizier to find him a bride. He married her in the evening and executed her the next day at dawn. This went on and on, and the people developed grudges against both the king and the Vizier, especially against the Vizier- because he himself had two daughters, Shahrazad and Dunyazad.
One day Shahrazad volunteered to be the doomed bride. The night before the execution, she asked if she could tell her sister a story. Shahryar said yes. Dunyazad came and Shahrazad began to tell a story. She stopped at a particularly interesting part just at dawn. The king put off the execution, wondering how the story ended. That night, she wove in another story, left off at an interesting part, and escaped execution again. It went on and on, until, after 1001 nights, Shahryar had softened, and Shahrazad was safe.
This story is set during the dangerous time in the kingdom of Shahryar when Shahrazad was still telling stories.
It is told by Marjan, a crippled orphan who, once her mother died, was sold by her stepfather as a slave. She has a bad past...her mother crippled her before committing suicide, and Marjan has a hard time coping with the fact.
But Marjan is treated very well by her owners, who consider her as family. Marjan loves telling stories and Queen Sharazad is her idol.
One day, selling trifles in the harem, Marjan begins to tell the children there a story. She has just gotten the children to laugh when she notices an older girl listening to the story too...
The girl is Dunyazad, Sharazad's younger sister. Dunyazad takes Marjan to the queen.
Sharazad is exhausted and running out of stories after almost three years of nighttime storytelling. So when Marjan tells one that she's never heard, she's immediately interested. The next day, Marjan is bought by Sharazad and comes to live in the harem.
Sharazad tells Shahryar the story. It turns out to be one of his childhood favourites and he asks for the sequel. Sharazad tells him she knows it, but in reality, neither she nor Marjan knows. She has to get the story, for fear of the king.
Marjan is now on a mission to find the storyteller from whom she heard the tale, and get the sequel in just a few days. In the event that she doesn't...Sharazad will die and the killings will start again.
But Marjan is a member of the harem. She can't go outside at all. In order to find the storyteller, she has to sneak out without getting caught by the guards. And that's not the only obstacle in her way.
The king's mother, the Khatun, is suspicious. She loves her son and doesn't trust either Shahrazad or her crippled servant. She's very powerful, with great influence over the king. She has spies. She suspects that Marjan may be helping Shahrazad to meet a lover. And that's how the whole drama started, right? With the queen having a lover...
Marjan has to get the story. The stakes are too high. The fate of the city and the eligible unmarried girls in it rest on Marjan's shoulders. Sharazad must soften the hardened heart of the king. If only Marjan could soften the hardened corner of her own heart...
Will she manage to get the story? Will she accept her mother's actions and death?
Will the killings finally stop?
I leave you to read the book and find out.
Title: Shadow Spinner
Author: Susan Fletcher
A king called Shahryar was happily married, until he discovered that his wife was in love with someone else. In a fit of rage, he executed both his wife and her lover. He was convinced that he could never trust a woman again.
Apparently kings weren't supposed to not have a wife. Or maybe Shahryar was slightly mad. Whatever the reason, Shahryar ordered his Vizier to find him a bride. He married her in the evening and executed her the next day at dawn. This went on and on, and the people developed grudges against both the king and the Vizier, especially against the Vizier- because he himself had two daughters, Shahrazad and Dunyazad.
One day Shahrazad volunteered to be the doomed bride. The night before the execution, she asked if she could tell her sister a story. Shahryar said yes. Dunyazad came and Shahrazad began to tell a story. She stopped at a particularly interesting part just at dawn. The king put off the execution, wondering how the story ended. That night, she wove in another story, left off at an interesting part, and escaped execution again. It went on and on, until, after 1001 nights, Shahryar had softened, and Shahrazad was safe.
This story is set during the dangerous time in the kingdom of Shahryar when Shahrazad was still telling stories.
It is told by Marjan, a crippled orphan who, once her mother died, was sold by her stepfather as a slave. She has a bad past...her mother crippled her before committing suicide, and Marjan has a hard time coping with the fact.
But Marjan is treated very well by her owners, who consider her as family. Marjan loves telling stories and Queen Sharazad is her idol.
One day, selling trifles in the harem, Marjan begins to tell the children there a story. She has just gotten the children to laugh when she notices an older girl listening to the story too...
The girl is Dunyazad, Sharazad's younger sister. Dunyazad takes Marjan to the queen.
Sharazad is exhausted and running out of stories after almost three years of nighttime storytelling. So when Marjan tells one that she's never heard, she's immediately interested. The next day, Marjan is bought by Sharazad and comes to live in the harem.
Sharazad tells Shahryar the story. It turns out to be one of his childhood favourites and he asks for the sequel. Sharazad tells him she knows it, but in reality, neither she nor Marjan knows. She has to get the story, for fear of the king.
Marjan is now on a mission to find the storyteller from whom she heard the tale, and get the sequel in just a few days. In the event that she doesn't...Sharazad will die and the killings will start again.
But Marjan is a member of the harem. She can't go outside at all. In order to find the storyteller, she has to sneak out without getting caught by the guards. And that's not the only obstacle in her way.
The king's mother, the Khatun, is suspicious. She loves her son and doesn't trust either Shahrazad or her crippled servant. She's very powerful, with great influence over the king. She has spies. She suspects that Marjan may be helping Shahrazad to meet a lover. And that's how the whole drama started, right? With the queen having a lover...
Marjan has to get the story. The stakes are too high. The fate of the city and the eligible unmarried girls in it rest on Marjan's shoulders. Sharazad must soften the hardened heart of the king. If only Marjan could soften the hardened corner of her own heart...
Will she manage to get the story? Will she accept her mother's actions and death?
Will the killings finally stop?
I leave you to read the book and find out.
