Review by Choice Review
A more appropriate successor to the author's Morality Tales (2003) and The Imperial Harem (1993) than Empress of the East is difficult to imagine. The evocative re-creation of details of 16th-century daily life that characterized the more recent book is brought together here with the fearless de-glamorization of the stuff of Orientalist fantasy (harems, concubines) that launched the 1993 work to the forefront of the discipline. The result is a stimulating, yet unquestionably respectable, biography of the famous consort of the Sultan Suleyman I--the slave turned imperial mother turned Sultana, "Roxelana"--that few others in the field would presume to write. Drawing on meticulous archival research and interdisciplinary methods, Peirce (NYU) transforms the story of the Sultan Suleyman's "astonishing" (it seems) relationship with Roxelana into an inventive re-imagining not just the of "refashioning of Ottoman sovereignty," as Peirce puts it, but the sights, smells, and sounds experienced by those who populated the Ottoman system. This sympathetic and imaginative book is very much what Peirce's readers have come to expect of her. It will undoubtedly be as popular among scholars as it will be among general readers. Summing Up: Essential. All public and academic levels/libraries. --Ruth Austin Miller, University of Massachusetts Boston
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by New York Times Review
PRAIRIE FIRES: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder, by Caroline Fraser. (Metropolitan/Holt, $35.) This thoroughly researched biography of the "Little House" author perceptively captures Wilder's extraordinary life and legacy, offering fresh interpretations of Western American history along the way. EMPRESS OF THE EAST: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire, by Leslie Peirce. (Basic, $32.) Peirce tells the remarkable story of Roxelana, a 16th-century Christian woman in Suleiman the Magnificent's harem who achieved unprecedented power and changed the nature of the Ottoman government. MRS. OSMOND, by John Banville. (Knopf, $27.95.) Banville's sequel to Henry James's novel "Portrait of a Lady," faithful to the master's style and story, follows Isabel Archer back to Rome and the possible end of her marriage. THE REPORTER'S KITCHEN: Essays, by Jane Kramer. (St. Martin's, $26.99.) In a delectable collection of culinary profiles, book reviews and reminiscences, the longtime New Yorker correspondent shows how she approaches life through food and food through life. FUTURE HOME OF THE LIVING GOD, by Louise Erdrich. (HarperCollins, $28.99.) What if human beings are neither inevitable nor ultimate? That's the premise of Erdrich's fascinating new novel, which describes a world where evolution is running backward and the future of civilization is in doubt. THE DAWN WATCH: Joseph Conrad in a Global World, by Maya Jasanoff. (Penguin Press, $30.) Conrad explored the frontiers of a globalized world at the turn of the last century. Jasanoff uses Conrad's novels and his biography in order to tell the history of that moment, one that mirrors our own. THE DAWN OF DETROIT: A Chronicle of Slavery and Freedom in the City of the Straits, by Tiya Miles. (The New Press, $27.95.) This rich and surprising book begins in the early 18th century, when the French controlled Detroit and most slaves were both Native American and female. THIS IS THE PLACE: Women Writing About Home, edited by Margot Kahn and Kelly McMasters. (Seal Press, paper, $16.99.) For these writers, home is where we are most ourselves - our mother tongue, our homeland, our people or just one person. JAMES WRIGHT: A Life in Poetry, by Jonathan Blunk. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux. $40.) Blunk illuminates the influences and obsessions of the ecstatic, troubled Wright and reveals him to be a lot like his poems: brilliant, intense and equally likely to soar or faceplant. The full reviews of these and other recent books are on the web: nytimes.com/books
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [August 30, 2019]
Review by Booklist Review
Peirce chronicles the remarkable life and times of Roxelana, the Eastern European slave girl who reshaped her own destiny after being kidnapped and inducted into the harem of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. Born in sixteenth-century Ruthenia, which became today's Ukraine, and captured during a raid, Roxelana was eventually brought to Istanbul, where she quickly gained favor with Suleyman and became his favorite concubine. Elevated to a rarefied position, she became his legal wife, achieving partnership status and exerting an unprecedented amount of influence over the sultan. Becoming actively involved in domestic and international affairs, she was one of Suleyman's most trusted advisers, inciting admiration and jealousy in equal measure. Wielding her power during a juncture in history distinguished by many strong female leaders, her exceptional accomplishments are especially noteworthy considering her humble origins and all that she overcame.--Flanagan, Margaret Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Peirce (Morality Tales), professor of history at NYU, successfully portrays the Ottoman Empire's most famous concubine as a woman who parlayed her enslaved status into becoming Suleyman the Magnificent's queen and a significant philanthropist-all while being unable to appear in public. Using her surviving correspondence and contemporary 16th-century accounts, Peirce fleshes out the queen's life in a court that seldom recorded women's activities. As a young slave, the Ruthenian girl, nicknamed Roxelana (her given name, birth date, and exact birthplace remain unknown), tellingly received the Persian name Hürrem, meaning joyful. She later laid the foundation of diplomatic correspondence between powerful women of the East and West. Westerners of that era obsessed over the brief sexual careers of harem members, but Ottoman tradition gave high-ranking members the special role of overseeing the transformation of their singleton princes into potential heirs. Roxelana's unique position as the probable emotional intimate of the sultan and the mother of multiple princes allowed her to create a strong family unit that, for those same reasons, came into conflict with Ottoman tradition. Peirce's knowledge of Turkish culture shines through objective, well-reasoned explanations of Eastern law and customs. Fascinating from beginning to end, Peirce's telling of Roxelana's story illuminates her remarkable life and the evolution of a long-lived empire that straddled two continents. Illus. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Peirce (history & Middle Eastern & Islamic studies, New York Univ.; Morality Tales) offers a fascinating journey into the palace of Ottoman leader Suleiman the Magnificent (1494-1566), who ruled for over three decades. This book tells the story of how power passes from one generation to the next, and how women played a large part in governing, diplomacy, and philanthropy during this era. Slaves from lands conquered by the Ottomans were brought to the palace, including Roxelana, a young Christian woman from Russia who was trained for the royal harem. The training involved an education in Islam and the arts, with the ultimate goal of bearing a child for the ruling Ottoman sultan or their princes. Roxelana became so dear to Suleiman that, contrary to custom, he freed and married her. After having several sons, Roxelana became involved in a level of diplomacy that was unusual for the time, acting in foreign affairs on Suleiman's behalf. This book is rich with sources from Ottoman, Islamic, and Venetian writers and poets, creating an intimate history. Peirce tells this family history in a moving and understated way. VERDICT For all readers interested in the Ottoman Empire. The power and influence of women and their impact in the diplomatic world is carefully sketched here.-Amy Lewontin, Northeastern Univ. Lib., Boston © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
