The story of Fatima, a concubine in the royal court of Granada, the last mireate of Muslim Spain, and her dearest Friend Hassan, the palace mapmaker. hassan has a secret, he can draw maps of places he's never seen and bend the shape of reality. When representatives of the newly formed Spanish Monarchy arrive to negotiate the sultan's surrender, Fatima befriends one of the women, not realizing that she will see Hassan's gift as sorcery, and a threat to Christian Spanish rule. With their freedom at stake, what will Fatima risk to save Hassan and escape the place walls? At 402 pages it is a little long winded to get to the point of the story. I felt it some of the story was shortened a bit it would of made a better read.