Mother of the Dawn: The Roman Princess Who Became the Narjes Khatoon

Mother of the Dawn is a luminous work of historical fiction that follows Melika, a princess of Constantinople and descendant of Simon Peter, whose prophetic dreams lead her to abandon an empire and a gilded fate. Disguised and captured amid war, she is brought to Baghdad—where a letter and a promise guide her to Samarra and to Imam Hasan al-Askari. Under the care of Hakima Khatun, the Roman princess becomes Nargis Khatun, embracing a faith, a marriage, and a destiny that must remain hidden:...