Authorpreneur Dashboard – Lisa J Yarde
Sultana: The Pomegranate Tree
Literature & Fiction
Book #5 of the Sultana series. In fifteenth-century Moorish Spain, Aisha, descendant of the Sultans of Granada finds herself powerless against fate. The pawn of her drunken, murderous father, she endures a sham marriage to a cruel tyrant, forever divided from the man who has claimed her heart. Years later, when a harem rival threatens to undo all that Aisha has achieved, she must preserve her children's future or see her family fall forever.
Rough-Cut Book Bubbles from Sultana: The Pomegranate Tree
Making sense of a complicated history
The Nasrid Dynasty of Moorish Spain was one of the most complicated families in history. In the latter century of the dynasty, brothers and cousin jostled for the throne, more likely to kill each other than make peace. The Nasrids were even more dysfunctional than the Tudors; so why is this fascinating period of Spain less well known? In this time, the ninth Sultan of Granada to bear the revered name of Muhammad, called al-Aysar or the left-handed, came to the throne. He would gain and lose power over a fractured kingdom three times until his fourth reign, which lasted over a decade. He took as a first wife his paternal cousin Nuzha, as customary among the Nasrids. He became the father of Aisha, the heroine of Sultana: The Pomegranate Tree. One of Muhammad al-Aysar greatest rivals was Nuzha's nephew, another Muhammad who met his brutal death at the orders of Al-Aysar's second wife Zahr al-Riyad. Unfortunately for him, Al-Aysar had no sons by either of his wives. Then something remarkable happened. As Al-Aysar faced the end, he arranged a marriage between his daughter and Muhammad al-Sagir, the son of the man whose death Zahr al-Riyad had ordered. Why would two enemies have chosen peace? It's a complicated answer. Find out when Sultana: The Pomegranate Tree makes its debut.
Vice in Sultana: The Pomegranate Tre
The Moorish world of the medieval period had its vices. Where wealthy men might have kept slaves and concubines as lovers, there were also prostitutes in Spain's cities. Other indulgences included alcohol and drugs, specifically forbidden in Quran. A reader once debated my reference to drug use in the books of the Sultana series, so I provided a link to some information about the awareness of illicit drugs, particularly cannabis in Moorish Granada; Sultan Muhammad VI once expressed full knowledge of the best places within his city where the drug could be bought. In Sultana: The Pomegranate Tree, the heroine Aisha learns more than she may have bargained for about her own mother, an opium addict locked in a tower. At the heart of this chapter lies a mystery; who bears the responsibility for the addiction which has overtaken the life of Aisha's mother?
Introducing the heroine of Sultana: The Pomegranat
The Sultana series has been the love of my writing life. No matter what I write about in the future, having worked on this six-part series will always mean so much to me. My fascination and admiration for the Moorish period in medieval Spain is evident again in Sultana: The Pomegranate Tree, the fifth book of the series. It's a ninety-year leap into the future after the events of the preceding novel. The heroine, Aisha is the daughter of one Granada's last Sultans to rule from the city's Alhambra. His hold on the kingdom is tenuous at best, as no less than three interruptions of his reign have occurred before Aisha's birth, and Spain's Catholic monarchs are still intent on reclaiming all of the country. In the first chapter, readers meet Aisha, learn about the inhabitants of her slowly crumbling world, and a bit about the secrets plaguing her life.
Sultana: The White Mountains
Literature & Fiction
Book #6 of the Sultana series. In fifteenth-century Moorish Spain, Moraima, wife of the last Sultan of Granada faces an uncertain future. Her husband’s realm endures terrible odds in battles against dangerous foes. The united Catholic monarchs gain ground steadily, encroaching upon Granada, while rivalries fracture the Moorish kingdom from within the palace. How can Moraima ensure the survival of her family, shattered by warfare and betrayal?
Book Bubbles from Sultana: The White Mountains
A mother's vengeance causes grave consequences for
The choices of others influenced the life of my tragic hero, Sultan Muhammad XI of Granada in Sultana: The White Mountains. Specifically, the decades-long struggle between his mother, Sultana Aisha and his father Sultan Abu'l-Hasan Ali. They had wed and Aisha submitted the required consent, but perhaps she never intended that the marital vow would bind her. Out of the union came their first son, Muhammad. Whatever hopes his father might have held him for his future, surely, his mother's own were different. The summer of 1482 found Granada in turmoil with Abu'l-Hasan Ali removed from the throne and Muhammad in his father's place. All at the behest of Aisha, who had allied with her husband's enemies to depose him. If she had believed Muhammad would happily accept the consequences of the coup, fate would prove her wrong. Her actions altered more than his destiny. They sealed the fate of Moorish Spain. Would a son who had been the pawn of his parents remain so once he held the reins of power? Find out in Sultana: The White Mountains, available now.
A reluctant royal
In Sultana: The White Mountains, readers of the last novel in the Sultana series gain insight into the lives of two protagonists. I call the first, Sultana Moraima, "a reluctant royal" because of her origins and outlook on life. She's the daughter of a provincial governor and famous general of the Moorish armies who've fought against the Christians of Spain for generations. Moraima is valiant like her father, except in one role: as the newest member of a dynasty more than 200 years old. Somewhat overwhelmed by her life at the side of the Sultan's eldest son, she fears she can never compare to the other royal women with their inherent power. But the fate of Moorish Spain will depend on all of its Sultanas.
