Tiffany Vora
A Tree of Pearls by Tiffany Vora
More than 1000 years after Cleopatra, a ruthless Islamic queen fights to rule Egypt on her own terms … .
In 1249, the dying sultan entrusts his empire to his beautiful wife, Shajar al-Durr. Determined to protect her power and her life, Shajar conceals his death and draws three ferocious war leaders, all former slaves and foreigners like herself, into a deadly conspiracy against the head of a powerful, ancient Egyptian family. But when the sultan’s heir by another woman arrives to confront the Crusaders, Shajar discovers that she alone can safeguard Egypt against invasion and genocide.
Facing threats to her rule from all sides, the world’s only Sultana is torn between her dangerous passion for her husband’s dashing confidante and a political marriage with a rival that would cement her place in a man’s world. Worse, a terrifying enemy approaches from the east, leaving mountains of skulls in its wake. In the midst of a murderous intrigue stretching from the sands of the Silk Road to the blood-soaked banks of the Nile to the opulent palaces and perilous alleyways of medieval Cairo, Shajar longs to share her ambitions – and her heart. But who can she trust?
The Book Doctors:
This book has a lot on its mind that is of lots of interest. We particularly like the themes of this book: femininity, motherhood and ambition in the last real-life queen of Egypt. Anne Boleyn and One Thousand and One Nights. We haven’t seen those ideas put together like this yet. There’s also a lot at stake, right from the beginning, in this book. There’s a great love triangle. But we would like more sense of your voice in this pitch. For example, we don’t like the phrase “dashing confidante”. That’s an example of where we believe the language settles for the ordinary instead of wowing us with how beautifully you can put together words. You’re also taking us to an extraordinary world. Please show us more about this world. Instead of saying “opulent palaces” let us know what this opulence is made up of. Instead of “perilous alleyways” let us know what’s in these alleyways.
In A TREE OF PEARLS, Tiffany Vora explores femininity, motherhood, and ambition through the enthralling story of the last real-life queen of Egypt. Complete at 100,000 words, this work of historical fiction transports the world-shaking audacity of Anne Boleyn into the exotic splendor of “One Thousand and One Nights.”
March 18, 2014 @ 11:01 pm
Great plot and exotic locale! So, let us embellish the ‘dashing confidant’ with history of large and small battle victories won in the past five years, a minor battle scar on his face, a tall handsome silhouette with rippling major pectoralis and rock-hard abdomen! Let us describe palaces with opulence that we have seen such as palaces owned near Kiev by Yanukovich, palace of Saddam Hussain, and of course palaces of emperors Shah Jahan and the Czars of Russia! The description of palace can easily go on to include the harem, private zoo filled with exotic animals, golden fixtures, statues and oh the paintings galore! Walls embedded with precious stones! We can go on and on for pages! And yes, those dangerous, sinister alleyways! Do not go there alone! While the aromas of food and animal droppings are wafting by, hold on to your wallet and your dagger, because out of the dark shadows, suddenly you may encounter a stranger flashing his shining white teeth, asking for a handout!