The Tale of the First Night

"One of my all-time favorite books is the enormous, eclectic collection of tales known as The 1,001 Nights, which exists in numerous translations and editions. But one thing all of them agree on is this: that a betrayed king was cleverly beguiled by a charming, and much more clever young woman, who escaped the fate of her executed predecessors by telling stories. The result are some of the most memorable stories known to man, not only Aladdin and Sinbad, but humorous, ribald tales such as The Tale of the Hunchback. However, the one thing missing in this story is the character of Scheherazade herself: she is a shadow figure, barely seen, and truthfully little more than a linking mechanism for the teller(s). This story addresses this problem head-on, and makes the frame story a modern, psychologically-gripping portrait of what set these 1,001 tales in motion. While the original story traces a bare outline, here we get gorgeous, evocative prose that takes us into the sultan's horror when he finds his first wife sleeping with the servant, and his sadistic revenge when he sees each one of his new wives murdered after their wedding night. Scheherazade also emerges as her own character; playing at the naive, demure bride, but possessing a sharp mind and a keen ear for human behavior. I would love to see this story as a preface to a modern edition of the tales, as a way "into" their deeply human insights. So well done, and makes me long to see the author attempt other stories in the canon--or something in the same vein but unimagined by the original writers. Fascinating!"