Dora Levy Mossanen brings to life a magical, mystical, erotic view
of 14th century Persia in the debut novel HAREM, the story of three
generations of strong, independent Jewish women who find themselves
living amongst the exotic members of a Persian harem. This book is
not just about these three women, however. It's also a tale of life
in a harem, and the sultanas and the eunuchs that make it a small
city within the palace of the Shah.

The story opens with 10-year-old Rebekah and her widowed mother
living in the Jewish quarters of Persia. Poverty runs rampant here,
and before Rebekah's mother dies, she tries to find a secure life
for her daughter. She feels her only choice is to marry off Rebekah
to any wealthy Jewish man who would promise to take care of her
daughter forever. Rebekah is aware of her mother's ambitions, and
one day, a prospective suitor comes to their home. Although Rebekah
never sees his face, she will always remember his soft-spoken voice
and his promises of dolls and candy and other wonderful things. It
is to this man she thinks her mother is marrying her off.

Soon afterwards, Rebekah and her mother are visiting the home of an
ancient Zoroastrian fortuneteller. "Her future is embellished with
crowns and jewels; A life of lust and passion, conspiracy and love.
At times, it will be difficult, but never, ever hopeless," says the
old woman. A foreshadowing of things to come, it is difficult to
even imagine what type of life may be in store for Rebekah, but her
heart is full of hope.

Jacob the Fatherless is not the man of Rebekah's dreams. He is not
the man with the soft and tender voice. He is an older rich brute
of a merchant that has the money and the means to care for
Rebekah's physical needs, but love is not in the cards. He breaks
his promise to keep her pure and untouched until she reaches her
first menstrual cycle, and rapes 10-year-old Rebekah on their first
night together. Each day he abuses her physically, sexually, and
emotionally, doing horrible things that could not even be imagined,
and soon Rebekah's childhood is only a memory. She never sees her
mother again. No one can save Rebekah from the hell in which she
lives.

Rebekah gives birth to her daughter Gold Dust when she is only 14
years old. Jacob, who wanted a son, becomes so angry that he brands
Rebekah between her breasts with a hot poker from the fire. He
treats his daughter with the same hatred as he treats Rebekah.
Rebekah manages to escape from Jacob, but now has to look out for
her future, resorting to prostitution in order to support herself
and her daughter. As Gold Dust grows older, Rebekah teaches her
ways of becoming an independent woman and to never trust a man ---
the greatest sin is to marry one. Through cunning and a desperate
need to save her daughter from a similar fate, she finds a way to
get Gold Dust accepted into the Shah's harem. And she
succeeds.

What Gold Dust accomplishes during her life in the harem is
something that no other sultana does up till that time --- she
seduces the Shah and makes him fall in love with her. Her
adventures while living in the palace are nothing less than magical
as she befriends eunuchs and other sultanas. But with the birth of
her daughter Raven, an albino whose extraordinary growth rate
scares the rest of the harem, life changes for her once again.
Raven embraces life in the harem and uses her station in life to
get what she wants; her greed for power changes Gold Dust's life,
and that of Rebekah, and a final betrayal nearly costs Gold Dust's
life.

The vivid imagery of 14th century Persia, plus a few historical
characters such as Timurlane, helps make HAREM a novel of epic
proportions. First time novelist Dora Levy Mossanen does a great
job of conjuring up the erotic passions of the sultanas, while at
the same time giving the reader a fantasy view of what life in 14th
century Persia could have been like. The book is part fantasy, part
historical fiction, but it's pure entertainment.