Jack Weatherford — The Secret History of the Mongol Queens

WOW I loved this book!

The amount of everyday life detail was just enough to satisfy my history nerd curiosity. The women described were multi-dimensional, no one is perfect and no one is pure evil, they all exist in the gray space that is reality.

The lives of these women were really well researched, especially considering the efforts censors took through centuries to ensure their stories would disappear.

Three women particularly stayed with me.

1. Töregene and her totally not lover friend Muslim slave girl Fatima, who Töregene raised to the position of a minister and who had “enjoyed constant access to Toregene’s tent.” Their story is more tragic than most in this book. They are briefly mentioned but the difference in their stations and their close friendship (totally not love affair) was so interesting to me that I bonded with them in the span of two sentences. Unfortunately, by the time their chapter was done I had to put my Kindle down and just stare out the tram for a while. No evil monster of fantasy could ever be as cruel as people are.
2. Khutulun, the lady who ruled with her father and could best any man in wrestling. She wrestled for horses first and then she declared she would only marry a man who could beat her in wrestling, otherwise she’d get his horses… which ended in her having thousands of horses. ❤ (Puccini’s Turandot is supposedly based on her life story but with a strong dose of sexism thrown over it to not upset Western sensibilities.)
3. Mandukhai and her boy king left me so emotional I cried. I feel like in history and especially with royalty, it’s really hard to find genuine, non-calculated emotions, and that’s what I read here. Some of it certainly was for show, some is probably enhanced by people in love with their queen, but behind it all is a relationship that seems genuine.

In fact, all three of these women chose to follow their own path and revealed who they truly were in the process, and that’s probably why I love them so much.

The book explains historical events that shaped lives and decisions of the women it talks about, so it’s not hard to follow if you’re not into Mongol history particularly. It’s also an easy read, flows like a story and keeps the reader engaged, it’s not raw and boring retelling of events but it’s also not fictional. The writer strikes a good balance and clearly has a way with the words that I’m lacking now to explain my love for this book :D

I deeply recommend it if you enjoy history, women in history or good writing!