Author(s): Debbie Taylor

Fiction

Set in eighteenth-century Morocco and based on a true story, The Fourth Queen is a gripping novel about power, both sexual and political, love, in all its many forms, and one woman's incredible journey to a new life halfway across the world. Helen Gloag, an impetuous Scottish beauty, runs away from home to board a ship bound for the Colonies. But the voyage has barely begun when the ship is brutally ransacked by pirates and diverted to Morocco. A traumatized Helen is sold to a procuress, where she is discovered by the dwarf, Microphilus, who oversees the harem of the Emperor Sidi Mohammed. The harem is home to a thousand women of every colour and from every corner of Africa. Knowing that Helen's red hair and milky skin will enthral his master, Microphilus takes Helen back to Marrakech. On their arrival they discover the palace seething with intrigue: the Emperor has divorced one of his four wives, leaving a vacancy for a new queen.