The Tiger Queens: the Women of Genghis Khan by Stephanie Marie Thornton

Our names have long been lost to time, scattered like ashes into the wind. No one remembers our ability to read the secrets of the oracle bones or the wars fought in our names. The words we wrote have faded from their parchments; the sacrifices we made are no longer recounted in the glittering courts of those we conquered. The deeds of our husbands, our brothers, and our sons have eclipsed our own as surely as when the moon ate the sun during the first battle of Nishapur.I previously read Daughter of the Gods: A Novel of Ancient Egypt and vowed that I must get my hands on all of Stephanie Thornton's books ASAP. Not only does Thornton make history come alive, but her female protagonists are intelligent, fierce, and know how to leave their marks in the world of men. Let's also give her credence for telling the tales of female characters that aren't Western European. No,instead the heart of this story takes centre stage in Mongolia during the time of the Khans. Readers are presented with four narrators who each have their story to share. Borte, is the primary wife of Genghis Khan; tomboyish Alaqai, daughter of Genghis and Borte, Fatima, the Persian woman that is taken as a slave and later becomes a respected advisor, and lastly the "Princess of the Hearth" daughter in law Sorkhoktani, mother of eventual Mongol ruler, Kublai Khan. These women stand together during times of war and peace and prove to all why the women who surrounded Genghis Khan need to re-emerge from the shadows that they have long been sent to.