I LOVED this author's earlier book "The Blood of Flowers" and was eager to see what her second effort would be like. This is vivid historical fiction, set in a time and place I knew nothing about, 16th century Iran, and would seem to be based on solid research. It's told from the point of view of a eunuch who serves a princess in the restricted women's quarters of the palace of the Shah. It is full of the expected machiavellian politics of the time, of course, but I was moved by the main characters' powerful commitment to honor and duty, and their respect for poetry and the arts. I found it a good introduction to a middle eastern world view that was altogether new to me. It did NOT make me wish to have been a woman then, but I found it a rousing good story. I listened to an audio of this one, read by the wonderful Simon Vance.