The Mapmaker’s Daughter, Katherine Nouri Hughes

A fascinating blend of historical fiction and fact. This is the story of Nurbanu; born Cecilia Baffo Veniero, she’s not even a teenager when the Ottoman Empire sweeps across her tiny island capturing her and hundreds of other young children.

Cecilia’s education brings her to the attention of the Sultan and starts her rise to becoming one of the most powerful and influential women of her age. Nurbanu, quarantined with a mystery illness uses her time to document her story and explain some of the hard choices she had to make to preserve her Sultan’s dynasty.