The Ruby In Her Navel
The Court of King Roger in Twelfth century Sicily simmers with the volatile passions of Christians, Muslims, Jews, Latins and Greeks. Among them, a young Norman called Thurstan Beauchamp finds employment under Yusuf, a Muslim who holds the Christian king’s purse strings.
But while Thurstan wishes to be made a Knight, he has little taste for courtly intrigues and instead divides his time between the divine – in the shape of childhood sweetheart Lady Alicia – and the delightful: the sensuous and exotic dancer Nesrin.
However, in his pursuit of love and knighthood, Thurstan has yet to appreciate that he may also be a pawn in a far more deadly game …
‘An entertaining story of sexual temptation, forbidden love, crazy monks and treacherous Christians: a riotous period soap opera’
The Independent on Sunday
‘Conjures up an atmosphere of wonder and suspense . . . on a masterly painted canvas. A story fit to rival Umberto Eco’
The Times Literary Supplement