The Mapmaker's Daughter

June 26, 2017
In her debut novel, Hughes fleshes out the historical record of Cecilia Baflo Veniero, who would later be known as Nurbanu, Queen Mother of the Ottoman Sultans. Nurbanu recalls her dramatic life from her deathbed: born illegitimate in Venice and orphaned at a young age, she benefits from her father’s nobility and the education she received from her mother during her early years after she is enslaved by Turkish corsairs. Singled out by Suleiman the Magnificent and given to first one and then a second of his sons, Nurbanu receives opportunities for education as well as access to power. She uses her position to affect the nation’s political direction, protect her family, and, most notably, oppose a barbaric law designed to maintain authoritarian control of the Ottoman Empire. Hughes adeptly mixes fictionalized elements with historical details. However, the narrative—told in the form of a deathbed memoir—often reads more like a history textbook than a novel. Depictions are sometimes gritty and graphic and may be disturbing to some readers.