Ann Chamberlin is the international bestselling author of ten historical novels and a nonfiction history of women in the Middle East. She also writes plays, including Jihad, which was named Best New Off-Off Broadway play of 1996.
The harem slave Safiye, "the Fair One" as she is known, is the embodiment of beauty--and ambition. With her perfumed body and bewitching eyes, she rules the men who own her. She controls the Empire from within the veiled harem walls, her web of intrigue reaching far beyond Istanbul and into Europe. Her touch is felt in wars, acts of sabotage, and the machinations of both European and Asian politics. The aim of her ambition? To see that her son becomes ruler of the Ottoman Empire. She will allow nothing to stand in her way.