The Naqib's Daughter
by Samia Serageldin
2020-08-25 01:42:48
Lady Nafisa--aristocrat, philanthropist, and wife of Mamluke leader Murad Bey--wakes one morning to find her worst fears confirmed: Cairo is under threat from Napoleon's Grande Armee. For Nafisa, the approach of the French means her husband must go t...
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Lady Nafisa--aristocrat, philanthropist, and wife of Mamluke leader Murad Bey--wakes one morning to find her worst fears confirmed: Cairo is under threat from Napoleon's Grande Armee. For Nafisa, the approach of the French means her husband must go to war, and she fears she will be widowed a second time. For 14-year-old Zeinab, daughter of a respected Naqib, it is the end of her childhood. To save her family she is married to Napoleon, and life in the French court in Egypt becomes a game to her, one with many pleasures, including the love of one of Napoleon's trusted entourage. When the occupation fails, and the French begin to withdraw, only Nafisa can protect Zeinab from the wrath of the mob. Bringing to life in vivid strokes the vanished world of the exotic Mamluke warrior-slaves, this enthralling novel explores the complex and dangerous relationship between occupier and occupied.
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