Katie Hickman's second novel The Aviary Gate is set during the Ottoman Empire in 16th century Constantinople and looks at the lives of women enslaved in the Sultan's harem. She talks to Jenni about why the West is obsessed by this subject, the difficulty of researching the lives of women, and why, as an historian, she now writes novels rather than academic papers.
The Aviary Gate, is published by Bloomsbury on 7th April 2007, ISBN 978-0-7475-8038-6
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