BENEATH A CRESCENT MOON

Macedonia’s historical novel charts war, love, and palace intrigue in the Ottoman Empire during the first half of the 16th century.

Lezhe Haris, né Jadran, the son of Croatian parents who raised him in Albania, was only 11 years old when his father turned him over to Ottoman soldiers to be schooled in service to Sultan Suleyman Khan. He was placed with Turkish foster parents for tutoring in his new culture and taught the skills of war. In 1529, during the Ottoman battle for Vienna, he is 24 years old and has risen to the rank of a Janissary, a member of the Sultan’s elite fighting force. The siege of Vienna is unsuccessful, but Haris performs bravely, and his war hero status results in a posting to Constantinople. Six months later, he is summoned to a meeting with the Sultan. Suleyman wants Haris to tutor his 15-year-old son, Sehzade Mustafa, potential heir to the throne, in the “art of soldiering” and “military strategy.” The relationship between teacher and student develops into a close friendship, leading to the many exploits they share over the years. During this same period, Haris spots Badra, a beautiful woman he helped during the battle for Vienna. Now she is a captive, a member of the Sultan’s harem. Despite the dangers and restrictions that divide them, they fall in love. The author, a retired history teacher, packs his novel with meticulous descriptions of the regulations, protocols, garb, architecture, and effusive linguistic flourishes prevalent in court life of the period. The text is a bit dense, and the Turkish terminology and geography present some stumbling blocks early on. Macedonia’s narrative also contains an abundance of violence, including vivid depictions of weaponry (“These infantry units…clad in short-stuffed breeches and padded doublets, moved systematically into position, easily identified by the turtleshaped helmets fashioned with flat brim and crest extending from front to back”) and battle strategies as well as the brutality and cruelty of palace backroom betrayals. Haris is a protagonist of formidable heroic proportions. He is a fierce fighter, military strategist, and philosophical adviser to the young prince, yet he’s capable of acts of compassion.

An engaging adventure and melodrama bolstered by a trove of historical factoids, but a somewhat challenging read.