A lush historical epic, The Fourth Queen is the story of one woman’s struggle for power and love in the court of the eighteenth-century Emperor of Morocco. Poetically intense and sensual, it marks the debut of a gifted new author.

Beautiful Helen Gloag is determined to escape the cycle of poverty and early death that has destroyed so many women in her native Scotland. Barely out of her teens, she flees her hometown and sets sail for the Colonies on a ship bound for Boston. But the ship falls prey to a band of corsairs—pirates from the Barbary coast of Africa. Helen is taken captive and sent to a procuress in Morocco, where women are sold into the slave markets of the nobility. In the procuress’s house, she is discovered by the witty, soft-hearted dwarf Microphilus, who oversees the Harem of the Emperor himself. Knowing her red hair and milky skin will enthrall his master, he takes her to Marrakech, and the imperial palace.

The Harem of the Emperor is a mysterious, voluptuous, and forbidding place, a hive of dangerous political tensions and unlikely friendships. Microphilus, himself a Scot captured by pirates as a young man, has found his fortune in the Emperor’s Harem, where he serves the Queens, including the charismatic, amazonian African empress Batoom, who is his lover. With Microphilus’s help, Helen learns to negotiate the politics of the Harem and compete for the Emperor’s favor.

Cast into the luxurious but sinister world of the Harem, Helen is at first terrified of the godlike and often cruel Emperor, but she soon becomes his favorite. Eventually, out of all the Harem women, she is chosen to become his fourth wife—the greatest of honors, since the Emperor may have hundreds of concubines but only four official wives. With her marriage, however, comes the greatest danger. Helen’s predecessor, the other “White Queen,” has succumbed to a mysterious, disfiguring illness and is slowly wasting away. Poison is the most likely cause, and Microphilus knows that Helen is destined to be the next victim.

In the Harem, hundreds of women are vying to be one of the four queens, thus setting the scene for the tragic power struggle and love story that ensue.

The first three or four pages didn't really grab me, but soon after I was hooked. By halfway through, I found myself thinking about the characters during my workday. I snuck in more reading while I ate dinner and used a book weight so I could keep the pages visible as I brushed my teeth. When I finally snuggled into bed, I stayed up for hours, unable to put the book down until I reached The End. The author's lovely, vivid descriptions and flawed characters kept me intrigued. (I particularly loved Queen Batoom.) Sections in the last quarter of the book nearly had me crying.

The ending wasn't quite as settled or satisfying as I would have liked, and there were a few plot devices and character choices I couldn't entirely accept. But overall, the book gave me that "turn off the world until I finish this" feeling, so I happily recommend it and wish you the same experience.

But for the ending, I would have given this book a full five stars.

Don't worry- I will not ruin the ending of the book, but I will say that I like closure at the end of a novel and this book just ends. If there is a sequal pending then I will gladly change my review to five stars, but if not, I was just too frustrated by the way she ended such an incredible story with too many loose ends! I know it is incredibly hard for writers to end their novels, but it felt like she just gave up and hoped her readers would provide the ending of their choosing.

That being said, I still recommend it highly! The characters are really intriguing and it is a well researched tale about the Moroccan Harem in the late 1700s for Helen, the protagonist captured by piarates from a boat heading from her homeland Scotland to the Americas, and Microfilus, the Dwarf (whose character is remniscent of Nabokov's Humbert Humbert in his love/infatuation/obsession with Helen) who guides the story with his intimate writings about Helen, the Emperor, the other Queens and life in the Harem. While the only men allowed in the Harem were eunichs, Microfilus avoided the brutality of castration due to his size; the ignorant sadistic Emperor would never have guessed his Dwarf was more of a "man" than he was.

Helen's story is both sad and uplifting. While you may not always agree with her actions or feelings, you'll enjoy going along for the ride as she becomes one of the most powerful women in the Harem.

Overall, a wonderful book with a less than solid ending, but defintiely worth the read. I would be very interested to read future novels by this author- she's clearly a talented and promising writier.

Pros: Unlike many novels in which the plot is centered around a European woman kidnapped into a harem, the heroine Helen doesn't automatically entrance the Emperor of Moracco. Instead she is repulsed by him and by the mounds of fat females surrounding her. The politics of the harem, with the jockeying for the Emperor's eye and the importance of bearing sons seems real. The sections written from Helen's point of view are interesting and for the most part believable.

Cons: The second narrator, Microphilus, a Scottish dwarf also kidnapped by pirates is just impossible to believe. First, that the Emperor would have allowed any man--even a dwarf--the run of his harem without ascertaining first that that man wasn't, if you know what I mean, is unrealistic. In addition, Microphilus' writing is tedious and overblown. He appears to write just for the joy of seeing his words on paper. Another problem to me is how quickly Helen acclimatizes to harem life, packing on the pounds until her butt looks like a pumpkin attached behind her waist (as described by the author), and becoming enamored of the same Emperor who repulsed her and who tortures and kills her best friend in the harem. A final issue is the conclusion--there isn't one. It appears that the author wrote herself into a corner, couldn't find a way out, and so just quit writing without resolving anything.

I have read several books on life in a harem and this was not was particularly my favorite, although it was a good book.
The story goes back on forth between Helen, a Scottish girl who is kidnapped and brought to the harem and innermost thoughts of Microphilius, a dwarf, who also happens to be a eunuch.

The story gives you a glimpse of the miserable life in the harems that are full of jealousy and envy. Overall, the book was sad and the main character Helen can't catch a break. There was some irony in this story...Helen wants to be loved by the Emperor all the while she is the object of Microphilius' desire. There is also some betrayal which is a result of the jealousy which exists between the queens in the harem.
I was disappointed with the ending...It really left me hanging
If you want to read a good book on harem life read The Gilded Chamber

This is an exciting story about pirates, a harem, a dwarf, an emperor, lots of eunuchs, jewels, gardens, religion, beauty, ambition and poison. A dramatic story about a different world, where women are valued for their chubbiness and unibrows. Where men are, well, apparently most of them are nearly psychotic, but at least some of them have redeeming qualities.

It is a wonderful book. The language is beautiful. The story is sad but gripping. There were plenty of plot twists, unexpected alliances, and treachery. The main characters are complex, for the most part neither good nor evil, but struggling to rise above situational ethics.

I couldn't put this book down. It's the best things I've read in ages.