The Fourth Queen [Paperback]

This book is slightly disappointing in the way that Taylor goes from detailed to selective through the different parts. There is a strange ending and it doesnt really do it for me, but i loved the book.. even though it's detail during the more sexy scenes may put people off, do not be fooled, this is a book about hope, love, prostitution and sacrifice.

This book is an account of what it is like to live in a harem under the rule of ruthless people and in evil times.. Read and enjoy and you shall form your own opinion.

The story is told from two viewpoints: that of Helen, the beautiful but not too bright young heroine, who is pregnant after a one-night stand with a local boy and bound for America; and much more interestingly, the dwarf Microphlius who procures women for the Emperor's harem. Because of his tiny size he alone is not a eunuch, and enjoys the love of Batoom, one of the Emperor's Queens. When he sees Helen, he knows that here is a woman who will inflame his master's desires - but first Helen has to convert to Islam (which she does unwittingly)put on a lot of weight and learn the arts of love in a harem fraught with sexual jealously and worse. For someone is poisoning the Emperor's favourites, and when Helen succumbs to his goatish lusts, she too is in danger.

That's the plot, which rips along. What makes Taylor's novel different is the extraordinary voice of the dwarf, whose 18th century turns of phrase and intelligence make him sound like a blend of Moliere and Swift. Though over-fond of the adjective "wee" Taylor is brilliant at creating the atmosphere of the harem, and what develops is a meditation not just on love but on beauty, and what it is to be a man - or woman.

Once ensconced the harem, Helen is discovered by Microphilius, a witty, softhearted dwarf who also purports to be Scottish. Microphilius overseas the harem and the needs of the Emperor himself but jealousies and envy starts to run amuck, when Microphilius develops a crush on the red headed, green eyed, and pale skinned beauty from Scotland. Taylor portrays the harem of the Emperor as a mystifying, voluptuous and forbidding place where women of all shapes and sizes spend their days washing their hair, making themselves up and preparing themselves for being chosen to "make sex" with the Emperor. With their "tattooed faces" and "powerful thighs", all the women think of is the "clothes, the paint, the dancing – it's all for sex, to make them good for sex, and for carrying babies." Taylor also does do a good job of showing the bitchy political intent along with the strained and unlikely friendships that Helen develops with the other women. And with Microphilius's help, Helen gradually negotiates the politics of the harem and eventually competes with the Emperor's favour. A kind of whodunit follows when Helen is forced to confront poison, death and danger as she is selected to become the Emperor's fourth queen.

Although Taylor raises some interesting questions about the body and soul: "what is the body except clothing for the spirit, the fleshy barrier dividing spirits from one another", the story is generally quite dull, tedious, and un-absorbing. Too much time is taken in setting up the premise for Helen's first sexual encounter with the Emperor, which isn't really that exciting anyway, and Taylor's style seems just so cluttered and overly descriptive in all the wrong places. The narrative doesn't flow, as gracefully and mellifluously, as it should. There is no doubt that historical fiction is a hard medium to get right, but I'm not sure whether The Fourth Queen is a particularly successful example of this medium. If you want to read some good, high-quality historical fiction that has been published recently, read Sara Dunant's The Birth of Venus.

Michael