Sensual romances set against the splendor of the Mughal Empire...
Alessandra Shahbaz's first historical romance, Ghazal in the Moonlight, was published by Random House India in 2009. To read some of Alessandra's thoughts on writing romance and to find out more about the Kama Kahani series check out the Random House India blog. To read an article by Alessandra on the use of pseudonyms by women writers of erotic fiction click here.
Ghazal in the Moonlight is also available in Spanish!
The history
Ghazal in the Moonlight takes place in the royal courts of Oudh in the last decades of the 18th century, a time when the city of Lucknow reached its cultural and economic zenith, exerting a powerful fascination on Indians and Europeans alike. For centuries, the Nawabs of Oudh had encouraged the arts through their patronage of sculptors, artists, poets, architects, and philosophers and had amassed stunning collections of Persian manuscripts, miniature paintings, and other antiquities. The lavish lifestyles of the Nawabs, and the permissive reputation of their kingdom, attracted English adventures, artists, officers, and members of the British East India Company. Lucknow became a major trading post for the Company, and English agents began to build their own palaces along the Gumti river.
When Saif al-Dawla came to power as Nawab Wazir of Oudh in 1775, Lucknow entered its most decadent stage. Saif al-Dawla gave political and military control of Oudh to the English and dedicated himself to the pursuit of pleasure. As the English East India Company transitioned from a merely mercantile to a sovereign presence in Bengal, more and more foreigners poured in to Lucknow. The balance of power and wealth began to tip…
Enter Shameena Al’Wajid, the beautiful, free-spirited woman who finds herself at the dizzying fulcrum of two Empires as two powerful men battle to possess her.
The story
Dazzling Shameena runs wild in the Nawabi court until her weak-willed father promises her to Nicholas Winthrop, the richest Englishman in the subcontinent. Furious about the alliance, she rebels and flees her father’s palace, disguised as a courtesan. When Asef, Winthrop's thrillingly mysterious bodyguard, is dispatched to bring her back, Shameena finds herself caught in a dangerous game, between East and West, fire and ice…
Order Ghazal in the Moonlight
Ghazal in the Moonlight takes place in the royal courts of Oudh in the last decades of the 18th century, a time when the city of Lucknow reached its cultural and economic zenith, exerting a powerful fascination on Indians and Europeans alike. For centuries, the Nawabs of Oudh had encouraged the arts through their patronage of sculptors, artists, poets, architects, and philosophers and had amassed stunning collections of Persian manuscripts, miniature paintings, and other antiquities. The lavish lifestyles of the Nawabs, and the permissive reputation of their kingdom, attracted English adventures, artists, officers, and members of the British East India Company. Lucknow became a major trading post for the Company, and English agents began to build their own palaces along the Gumti river.
When Saif al-Dawla came to power as Nawab Wazir of Oudh in 1775, Lucknow entered its most decadent stage. Saif al-Dawla gave political and military control of Oudh to the English and dedicated himself to the pursuit of pleasure. As the English East India Company transitioned from a merely mercantile to a sovereign presence in Bengal, more and more foreigners poured in to Lucknow. The balance of power and wealth began to tip…
Enter Shameena Al’Wajid, the beautiful, free-spirited woman who finds herself at the dizzying fulcrum of two Empires as two powerful men battle to possess her.
The story
Dazzling Shameena runs wild in the Nawabi court until her weak-willed father promises her to Nicholas Winthrop, the richest Englishman in the subcontinent. Furious about the alliance, she rebels and flees her father’s palace, disguised as a courtesan. When Asef, Winthrop's thrillingly mysterious bodyguard, is dispatched to bring her back, Shameena finds herself caught in a dangerous game, between East and West, fire and ice…
Order Ghazal in the Moonlight
Alessandra's second historical romance, Midnight Flame, just came out from Red Sage!
Midnight Flame is a sensual and suspenseful tale set in Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi) during the twilight of the Mughal Empire.
The history
Covert struggles for the throne had bloodied the Mughal dynasty since the days of Babur. Yet only when the Emperor Shahjahan fell ill in 1658 did intrigue escalate into an open war of succession. Aurangzeb emerged victorious and inaugurated a new phase of repression, ending his father's patronage of the arts and going so far as to ban poetry, court music and dancing. Despite Aurangzeb's harsh rule, within the capital, the walled city of Shahjahanabad, nobles continued to pursue luxury and pleasure. Fighting both to expand the Empire's boundaries and to suppress the rebels who rose against him, Aurangzeb turned his back on Shahjahanabad and devoted himself to his military campaigns. In his absence, the instabilities that would soon threaten the Empire itself manifested within the capital....
Enter Shazia Wali Dad, a tempestuous woman who resists the imperatives of custom to follow her dreams, struggling to create a new way of loving and living as her world burns around her.
The story
1685 Shahjahanabad
Self-centered Shazia has always ignored the intrigues of palace life. But when her brother Suleiman is taken captive for his role in a plot against the ruthless and powerful Bilal Nazeem Shah, she will stop at nothing to win his release. With Emperor Aurangzeb away waging war in the Deccan, Shahjahanabad's circle of ambitious nobles knows no restraint, and treachery and deception rule the day. Shazia is swiftly lost in the labyrinth of deceit. The only man she can trust is her brother's friend Gibran, the very man whose mocking eyes pierce all of her defenses and whose touch makes her body flame with a wild passion hotter, darker, and more terrifying than a midnight sun. Shazia must use her wiles, and her beauty, to overcome her enemies. But Bilal's son Ahmad is a formidable foe, and keeping him close seems likely to melt her resistance and leave her utterly at his mercy. With danger on all sides, there is no right way to turn, and Shazia is torn by her uncontrollable attractions to both Gibran and Ahmad... Can she play the game of seduction and emerge unscathed? Or will her heart and soul be victory's price?
To find out more about Midnight Flame, read an excerpt, and buy the book, go to Red Sage
Midnight Flame is a sensual and suspenseful tale set in Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi) during the twilight of the Mughal Empire.
The history
Covert struggles for the throne had bloodied the Mughal dynasty since the days of Babur. Yet only when the Emperor Shahjahan fell ill in 1658 did intrigue escalate into an open war of succession. Aurangzeb emerged victorious and inaugurated a new phase of repression, ending his father's patronage of the arts and going so far as to ban poetry, court music and dancing. Despite Aurangzeb's harsh rule, within the capital, the walled city of Shahjahanabad, nobles continued to pursue luxury and pleasure. Fighting both to expand the Empire's boundaries and to suppress the rebels who rose against him, Aurangzeb turned his back on Shahjahanabad and devoted himself to his military campaigns. In his absence, the instabilities that would soon threaten the Empire itself manifested within the capital....
Enter Shazia Wali Dad, a tempestuous woman who resists the imperatives of custom to follow her dreams, struggling to create a new way of loving and living as her world burns around her.
The story
1685 Shahjahanabad
Self-centered Shazia has always ignored the intrigues of palace life. But when her brother Suleiman is taken captive for his role in a plot against the ruthless and powerful Bilal Nazeem Shah, she will stop at nothing to win his release. With Emperor Aurangzeb away waging war in the Deccan, Shahjahanabad's circle of ambitious nobles knows no restraint, and treachery and deception rule the day. Shazia is swiftly lost in the labyrinth of deceit. The only man she can trust is her brother's friend Gibran, the very man whose mocking eyes pierce all of her defenses and whose touch makes her body flame with a wild passion hotter, darker, and more terrifying than a midnight sun. Shazia must use her wiles, and her beauty, to overcome her enemies. But Bilal's son Ahmad is a formidable foe, and keeping him close seems likely to melt her resistance and leave her utterly at his mercy. With danger on all sides, there is no right way to turn, and Shazia is torn by her uncontrollable attractions to both Gibran and Ahmad... Can she play the game of seduction and emerge unscathed? Or will her heart and soul be victory's price?
To find out more about Midnight Flame, read an excerpt, and buy the book, go to Red Sage