When Nus-Nus decides to champion Alys, his life becomes very challenging. She ruled the harem with fear and those most in danger were the Sultan’s current favorites or those who had had his sons. Life at court was always dangerous, no one ever knew when the Sultan would be set-off into a murderous rage, and his cunning wife wasn’t much better. While both Alys and Nus-Nus are fictional characters, the Sultan and his wife actually did exist and he was as psychotic and blood-thirsty as depicted in this novel. We are transported from Morocco to England while reading the story of Nus-Nus, the Sultan’s African eunuch scribe, and Alys Swann, an English woman kidnapped and brought to the Sultan. I found The Sultan’s Wife by Jane Johnson an exotic ride to 1677 Morocco and the palace of the murderous Sultan Moulay Ismail and his witch-like wife, Zidana.

From the danger and majesty of Meknes to the stinking streets of London and the decadent court of Charles II, The Sultan's Wifebrings to life some of the most remarkable characters of history through a captivating tale of intrigue, loyalty and desire. As they battle for survival, Alys and Nus Nus find themselves thrust into an unlikely alliance - an alliance that will become a deep and moving relationship in which these two outsiders will find sustenance and courage in the most perilous of circumstances. She faces a simple choice- renounce her faith and join the Sultan's harem or die. Meanwhile, a young Englishwoman named Alys Swann has been taken prisoner by Barbary corsairs and brought to the court. As he attempts to evade punishment for the bloody crime, Nus Nus finds himself trapped in a vicious plot, caught between the three most powerful figures in the court- the cruel and arbitrary Sultan Moulay Ismail, one of the most tyrannical rulers in history his monstrous wife Zidana, famed for her use of poison and black magic and the conniving Grand Vizier. Behind the magnificent walls and towering arches of the Palace of Meknes, captive chieftain's son and now a lowly scribe, Nus Nus is framed for murder.

The Sultan's Wife by Jane Johnson