The book does not merely produce effects comparable to those derived from the original text. Ahmed defamiliarises and dismantles what we think we know of Nights, so that our understanding and interaction with it evolve, too.
This snow globe of an alternate universe evokes wonder. But the historical world that Ahmed’s Shaherazade occupies is steadfastly realist. Realism can have its own magic, but I fear the author placed too many constraints on Shaherazade’s story as she pursued fidelity to her chosen historical setting.
Readers will love Shaherazade, who is acutely sensitive to nuance—social, political, and romantic—and refuses to lose her empathy. Ahmed flawlessly weaves together countless threads to create a stunning tapestry revealing the bonds that tie people together and the deceptions that tear them apart.
