Ann Chamberlin is an American writer of

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to oth ...

s. Her website states that the "purpose of storytelling . . . is to support positions in exact opposition to the views prevailing in a culture's powerhouses, whatever those views happen to be." This belief has led her to provide a feminist perspective on

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

ern affairs.

Biography

Chamberlin began writing stories as a child.http://www.alumni.utah.edu/continuum/fall01/veil.htm "The Woman Behind the Veil," Continuum Magazine, accessed 10 Jan. 2008 Her interest in

Islamic culture Islamic cultures or Muslim cultures refers to the historic cultural practices that developed among the various peoples living in the Muslim world. These practices, while not always religious in nature, are generally influenced by aspects of Islam ...

began when she worked on an archeology dig in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

where she helped work on an ancient Ottoman settlement. Later in the trip she met the matriarch of an Islamic family "who, in spite of her hidden features, seemed to radiate a power and command a respect much greater than one might expect of a Muslim woman." The trip led to her obtaining a BS in anthropology from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

, focusing on Middle Eastern culture.

Works

Ottoman Empire Trilogy

The trilogy began with ''Sofia'' (1996), whose title character is kidnapped sold into the great

harem A harem is a domestic space that is reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic Domestic worker, servants, and other un ...

of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. In Chamberlin's vision of harems, women used their seclusion for self-management, and only internal strife led to their domination under the sultans. The other two novels in the series were ''The Sultan's Daughter'' (1997) and ''The Reign of the Favored Women'' (1998). The Turkish author Solmaz Kâmuran discovered the trilogy and offered to translate the books into Turkish. The books were released in Turkey in March 2000 and two weeks later they topped the country's bestseller list. Her tour of the country later that year was covered by Turkish television and enthusiastically received by the populace.

Joan of Arc Tapestries

These books deal with similar themes with stories placed in

medieval Europe In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

. The books deal in part with prophecies of

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...

made by

Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...

and also suggest that Joan may have been a practitioner of pagan religions. There are four books in the series, including ''The Merlin of St. Gilles' Well'' (1999), ''The Merlin of the Oak Wood'' (2001) and ''Gloria''.

Other fiction

Chamberlin's three books retelling Biblical times are ''The Virgin and the Tower'', ''Leaving Eden'', and ''Tamar.'' ''Tamar'' was rereleased as ''Snakesleeper'' in 2007. ''Leaving Eden'' (2000) is told from the perspective of "Adam's daughter, Na'amah, by his first wife Lilith". Over the course of the novel, Adam rejects the old ways of the goddess and forges a new masculine religion represented by an enormous

aurochs The aurochs (''Bos primigenius''; or ; pl.: aurochs or aurochsen) is an extinct species of Bovini, bovine, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of t ...

Nonfiction

''A History of Women's Seclusion in the Middle East : the veil in the looking glass'' (2006) "offers an interdisciplinary examination of how women throughout the Middle East are and have been secluded, exploring both ideas of oppression and why it may be less oppressive than outsiders think. The historical review of such actions allows readers to consider cultural influences involved in women's isolation."http://www.midwestbookreview.com/lbw/feb_07.htm Midwest Book Review, accessed 10 Jan. 2008

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chamberlin, Ann 20th-century American novelists University of Utah alumni Living people 21st-century American novelists American historical novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers American women historical novelists 1954 births