Harem: A Novel [Paperback]

Dora Levy Mossanen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 30, 2002

A seductive and intriguing journey from the humble Persian Jewish quarter to the fascinating world of shahs, soothsayers, eunuchs, and sultanas, Harem follows three generations of strong-willed and cunning women: Rebekah -- a poor girl married to the abusive blacksmith, Jacob the fatherless -- who emerges from her disastrous match with a mysterious brand between her breasts; Gold Dust, Rebekah's treasured daughter, who enters the opulent and perilous world of the harem and captivates the shah with her singing bones; and Gold Dust's daughter, the revered and feared albino princess Raven, who will one day rule the empire.

Rich in visual imagery, Harem vividly depicts the exotic bazaars and dangerous alleys of the city and palace chambers brimming with conspiracy and betrayal -- as well as love and redemption. A skillfully crafted, intricately textured novel, Harem represents the beginning of a remarkable literary career.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Lush and erotic, this first novel overflows with the magic and sensuality of Arabian Nights tales, 19th-century orientalist paintings and languorous, silken-pantalooned harem beauties. Set in 14th-century Persia, the tale moves easily between the crowded, garbage-strewn alleys of the Jewish quarter and the magnificent palace of the shah. The shah's palace harem is concealed behind a tracery of delicately carved stone panels, where his 365 wives and their many attendant eunuchs lounge, and the queen mother, Bibi Sultana, rules. In the Jewish quarter, the characters are Rebekah, the indomitable heroine; the ancient Zoroastrian, a seeress; the one-eyed rabbi; the merchant Rouh'Allah, who realizes nearly too late he loves Rebekah; and Moses, fated to be gelded and become a lover to the shah. Rebekah is only 10 when she's married to Jacob the Fatherless, a brutal blacksmith, and branded by him with a hot iron bar between her breasts, a mark that will assume nearly supernatural importance. After Jacob commits suicide, Rebekah becomes a prostitute to support her child, Gold Dust. Determined to place her daughter within the harem, she sells her charms to Narcissus, the chief eunuch, even though he carries "his manhood pickled in a jar." Gold Dust becomes the shah's favorite, but provides the sonless ruler with another daughter, Raven, who will eventually be as implacable as her grandmother. The multifaceted story involves an invasion by the Mongol hordes under Teymour the Lame (Tamerlane) and daring escapes by Rebekah and Gold Dust. Shamelessly exotic, it's a delightful read and a grandly romantic escapade. lives in the U.S.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In this heavily eroticized novel, Mossanen tells the story of three generations of women - Rebekah, Gold Dust, and Raven - all impossibly beautiful and eminently capable of seducing the most powerful men in all of Persia, including the shah himself. The intricate plot reads like a combination of fairy tale, fantasy, and romance novel. Wicked men and irresistible women, corrupt eunuchs and bitter sultanas all vie for the shah's attention. And yet none of the women can fulfill the shah's deepest wish - to bear a son who will become heir and rule the empire. Though the plot is strangely compelling, the writing tends toward cliche, particularly in the dialog. After a while, the exclamations of "Yes, tonight he would have her" and "You are mine!" become rather tedious and overblown. The unrelenting sexuality of all three women is not empowering but rather unsettling and, at times, downright disturbing. Despite the novel's exotic setting and richly imagined characters, this is an uneven debut. - Amy Strong, South Portland, ME
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; Original edition (July 30, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743230213
• ISBN-13: 978-0743230216
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #449,186 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born in Israel as the country was gaining its independence. I moved to Iran with my family when I was nine. After living in Israel, where female soldiers wore shorts and carried Uzis around, I had quite a time adjusting to a culture that required women to conceal themselves under chadors. And talk about bad timing. The first days of my arrival coincided with the 1953 coup of Dr. Mossadegh when the Shah had fled to Italy. Streets brimmed with demonstrators, supporting Dr. Mossadegh and dragging down statues of Mohammad Reza Shah. And the very next day, around the same streets, portraits of the shah were displayed again and blaring microphones announced his return. These were my first experiences in a country of contradictions, a culture rich in legend, mythology, folklore, and superstition.
Little did I know then that in 1979, a married woman, I will pack my bags and move again. This time, thank heavens, to California where I continue to live with my family.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, but..., August 30, 2004

By 

C. A. Gordon (Indianapolis, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Harem: A Novel (Paperback)

Let me start out with the positive: the story is enjoyable, and had some severe problems been corrected like they should have been during the editing/revising process, Harem would have been a wonderful book.

Now, for the problems: bad pacing, no character development, fantastical characters with no reason to be that way, and the author's demand that you completely suspend belief without telling you why. Let me go into the latter first.

Me--and most fiction readers in general--are willing to let go of reality and believe whatever the writer wants them to believe, as long as it makes sense. As long as they are told why. Mossanen never gives a reason for things; they just are. No reason or rhyme, no effort to show you something instead of just telling you. Continously throughout Harem, she flat out informs the reader of what's what, treating the reader as rather slow. Harem would have been miles ahead of where it is now quality-wise had Mossanen taken steps to correct this one flaw. The reader will accept what the writer puts out there, but she needs to know why she's accepting it. Rebekah is allowed in as the bundle woman for the Harem and is suddenly the best of the best...why? Other than being arrogant, pushy, slightly grating, and a magnificent tease, WHY? Gold Dust is requested to dance for the Shah...WHY? One page she's an unknown newbie in the harem, and on the next page, she's suddenly the favorite. WHY?

Which brings me to my next point: pacing. I don't mind spending chapters on one day and only a paragraph or two spanning ten years--if that one day is important and the ten years are not. Mossanen does not quite seem to understand this. It's not so much a problem of what she does cover. The scenes, chapters, etc in Harem are relevant...unfortunately, she leaves out years-worth of material that could make the characters more believable. (Being more thorough would have corrected a lot of the other problems I've mentioned, as well.)

I'll combine the last two: fantastical characters and little to no development. Rebekah just is the way she is. Gold Dust just is the way she is. Raven just is the way she is. They don't change, and the reader is given very little reason as to what made them the way they are. Every now and then there is a glimpse: Rebekah's abusive marriage to Jacob and feelings of abandonment by her mother, for instance. However, Mossanen abandons these too quickly when a little bit more time spent on them would make a huge difference to the likeability and understanding of a character. And I'm sorry, Ms. Mossanen, but a five year old taming a wild horse? Were this a different genre of fiction, or even were the girl's abilities explained better and buoyed by evidence in the story, I would be more open-minded regarding it. Unfortunately, the lack of character development and/or the effort to make the characters believable is enough to cripple the story.

With all that said, the story's NOT bad. It just feels as if it skipped half of the editing/revision process. A good editor could have taken care of these, and had it been so, I could easily see myself falling in love with this story. Harem is a fun read and it's very interesting. The ideas and the plot intricacies are well-thought out and obviously the products of long, hard hours at the desk, pen in hand. Mossanen definitely did her research. I just wish she would have done her editing, too.

3 stars given for the story itself. 2 stars withheld for feeling like an unfinished, disappointing product.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful debut, May 19, 2003

By 

Ratmammy "The Ratmammy" (Ratmammy's Town, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Harem: A Novel (Paperback)

Harem by Dora Levy Mossanen

Last year I read Dora Levy Mossanen's debut novel HAREM, about a fictional family of women that rise above their station in life and live among the world of the Shah of Persia and his consorts. The novel takes place in 14th century Persia, during the days of the Ottoman Empire, and initially centers on the daughter of a Jewish woman living in the Jewish quarters, a life full of poverty and suffering. Rebekah is the daughter of this woman, and her mother sells her as a bride to a man called Jacob the Fatherless, thinking this will be a way to save her daughter from the same fate as hers.

Unfortunately, Jacob treats Rebekah as his property and creates a living hell for the young girl, who is barely 10 years old upon their marriage. She never sees her mother again, and is trapped with Jacob to live out the rest of her life. Before Rebekah goes to live with Jacob however, she hears a voice of a stranger, never sees his face, and thinks this is the man that her mother has promised her to marry. Her dreams are shattered once she marries Jacob, but she will never forget that voice. She carries the memory through her days of suffering under the house of Jacob, who abuses her and nearly kills her. Upon the birth of their daughter Gold Dust, Jacob brands Rebeka with a hot poker, angry that this child is not a son. He starts to believe that this child is not his child at all, accusing Rebekah of adultery, and treats the child the way he treats Rebekah.

Rebekah, like her mother before her, wants only the best for her child, and through bravery and cunning, she finds a way to give Gold Dust that life. Eventually, the young girl makes her way into the Shah's harem, and their lives are changed forever.

Ms. Mossanen paints a vivid picture of a fantastical life of 14th century Persia. Part fantasy, part history, HAREM is a book that if nothing else, will stir up the reader's interest in a life that is totally different from that of the Western World. She places a few historical events into the storyline, along with a few historical figures such as Timurlane, but there is a lot of fantasy mixed in as well. A very enjoyable piece of historical fiction, this reviewer gives HAREM an enthusiastic thumbs up.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars moderately successful, July 19, 2004

By 

Traci L. Anderson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harem: A Novel (Paperback)

Harem was a brief and not very involving read. The writing lacked lyricism, although it was clear the author tried very hard to peak the reader's imagination. The novel is sprinkled with magical realism without any follow through. Fantastical characters and scenes are presented more for the sake of oddity than for any emphasis on a narrative thread. The implicit promise of eroticism given by the title and subject matter also fails to meet expectations. There is nothing particularly lurid about the more perverse sex scenes, and nothing remotely sexy in those scenes intended to be viewed as romantic or intimate. Ms. Mossanen uses graphic terms to indicate the former, and more airy and vague words for the latter. Obvious reasearch went into this book, the infighting and favoritism inherent in the harem has a bitingly real feel. Unfortunately, nothing else does. And finally, how could the protaganists fail to realize where the fortune lay for so long. That was clear to the reader from the very pivotal moment where it is created in that state.