Set in sixth century pre-Islamic Arabia and surrounding regions, Jayida is the work that first made me want to write historical fiction.
Born in early 525 AD in northwest Arabia, Jayida is secretly raised as a boy for her safety. In defiance of al-‘ayn, the evil eye, she grows up as Jonder and soon becomes known for perceptiveness and bravery. But her meeting of Khaled, whose father is the reason for her unusual upbringing, turns her world upside down. Will she risk revealing her true identity and win his love? And whose lives must be sacrificed when her fame finally draws her into ‘Antarah’s quest, the mixed-race badawi-Aksumite poet of the Banu ‘Abs, whose last challenge is to capture her to win his own beloved ‘Ablah?
This is the timely retelling of a tale of Sirat ‘Antar. Set in the 1500-year-old historical context of Arabian tribal poetry, Roman-Persian-Himyarite-Aksumite relations, and climatic and plague events recorded worldwide, this colorful era is once more revived.
More info & buy: https://natachapavlov.com/jayida/
View the book trailer with lovely music by Marga Sol:
Sirène de la Mer- Natacha Pavlov 