It’s not that she’s a bad character, it’s that she’s inconsistent and plays much too large a role in documented history. Pasha characterizes her as “heroic” at one point, which made me almost roll my eyes. She’s an intellectual and occasionally serves as a spy, but a lot of her skills come out of left field–while we know she knows French, her knowledge of Italian comes out of nowhere. She’s also a bit inconsistent, I feel, and a touch too modern, speaking out in court and donning a head scarf instead of anything more obscuring in a very conservative city. Pasha does have some wiggle room here–one of Miriam’s final acts in the novel was historically committed by an anonymous figure, and we know very little about the wives of Saladin. While I have nothing against fictional characters in historical fiction, I’m not sure I’m too uncomfortable with the idea of a fictional character being so very central in history and in the affections and motivations of a great man. Miriam is a problematic character for me.
But when Miriam is captured by Richard, the two greatest men of their time suddenly find that the political has become unbearably personal. A Jewish woman with a mind of her own, Saladin and Miriam experience an instant attraction. Complicating matters is the arrival of Miriam, the niece of Saladin’s personal physician.
Saladin, the Great Sultan, tries to protect Jerusalem while still adhering to the ideal of a Muslim man (just, fair, and generous). Shadow of the Swords concerns Richard the Lionheart’s Crusade in the Holy Land–from the Muslim and the Jewish perspective. This made everything suddenly make a lot more sense. When I read the Author’s Notes, I discovered why –Shadow of the Swords was originally conceived as a screenplay, but turned into a novel after the success of Kingdom of Heaven, a film I quite enjoyed (but need to brush up on–I think it may have come on the very heels of my Orlando Bloom phase). It didn’t feel like any book I’d read before, but still familiar. As I was reading Shadow of the Swords, I was getting a strange feeling.
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