2015 book 187

E.K. Johnston's A Thousand Nights
I wasn't particularly interested in reading a retelling of Scheherezade and the Arabian Nights--at least, not till I realized the author was E.K. Johnston, who wrote The Story of Owen and Prairie Fire. And also, it's /not/ really a retelling of the Arabian Nights story--not in any traditional sense. There IS a king, possessed by a demon, who has taken over 300 wives--and all of them have died quickly. Now he's come to a small desert village, and our protagonist is determined to save her beloved sister, and becomes his wife instead. And she does manage to survive longer than the other wives--but it's thanks to her sister, and to other women, not just her own cleverness. I loved how much of this was about how women wield power in quiet ways. Really great, very engaging. B+.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in October.