Summary of Shadow Spinner
Shadow Spinner was about a servant named Marjan. The book begins with Marjan and
her employer selling wares at the Sultan’s palace. Marjan calls her employer her aunt, because
she and her husband treat Marjan more like a daughter than a servant. As Marjan’s aunt is
selling her wares, Marjan begins telling stories to the children that appear. An adult listens, and
after Marjan is finished with her story, takes Marjan to see someone. Marjan is shocked to see
that the person is Sharazad, the Sultan’s wife. Marjan had always admired Sharazad because
she had lived the longest out of the Sultan’s wives because the Sultan had killed every new wife
every night because his first wife had cheated on him, until he married Sharazad.
The woman who escorted Marjan to Sharazad turned out to be Sharazad’s sister,
Dunyazad. Sharazad explained to Marjan that the only reason that the Sultan was allowing her
to live was because of the stories that Sharazad told him. Sharazad told her that she ran out of
stories, and she couldn’t tell the same one, because the Sultan had an excellent memory.
Marjan named off various stories, but Sharazad had already told them. Finally Marjan came up
with one. Sharazad asked her to tell her the story so she could repeat it to the Sultan. Marjan
was allowed to go home after she told the story, and she waited nervous to find out the next
morning if Sharazad was still alive. A messenger arrived and announced that Sharazad was
alive.
Later on, a eunych came by and told Marjan that she was requested by Sharazad to live
in the palace. Marjan reluctantly left to live in the palace. She was sent to meet the Sultan’s
wife, who was extremely overweight and stank of decay. She struck Marjan as a person who
she didn’t want to mess with. Marjan was washed and dressed by a cranky old lady, who
noticed Marjan’s crippled foot. She wondered why Sharazad would want a cripple. Marjan’s
foot was crippled because when the Sultan was killing his wives, there was a shortage of young
single women. Marjan’s mother was on her deathbed, and she wanted the best for her
daughter. So one day Marjan’s mother calls Marjan to her and asks her to hold out her foot.
Marjan obeys and her mother lifts a heavy pan and smashes it on the side of Marjan’s foot,
permanently crippling it. She did it to protect her daughter from becoming the Sultan’s wife.
Marjan hated her mother for doing that, and didn’t forgive her.
Sharazad asked Marjan for another story, and it took a while for her to think of one. She
thought of one that she could only remember part of, and she repeated it. Sharazad told the
story, and she again lived the next day. She asked for the next part of the story, but Marjan
couldn’t remember the other part of it because she had heard it from a storyteller in the city’s
bazaar when she was very young. Sharazad became very worried, and she asked if there was
any way that they could find out the other part. Marjan said she would need to find the
storyteller. It would be difficult, because no one that lives inside the palace is allowed outside
the palace. Sharazad figures out a plan to get Marjan out of the palace to find the storyteller.
Marjan will hide inside a chest that needs repair and she will be carried to a repair shop near
the bazaar and Marjan will find the storyteller and find out the rest of the story.
Before she left, she decided to explore the palace. She explores a part of the castle that
is forbidden to every woman other than the Sultan’s mother. Marjan hears voices, and hides on
a ledge in a courtyard. The voices are the Sultan’s mother and a girl’s. Marjan will be exposed if
they come any closer. She hears a sound above her and she spots an old woman. The old
woman gestures wildly for Marjan to climb the vegetation above her to get on the roof. Having
very little time, she clambers up the wall quite loudly. The old woman leads her to a tower. She
introduces herself as the bird keeper of the palace. (I couldn’t remember her name) They chat
for a while, then Marjan says she needs to go. She goes back to Sharazad’s room to prepare for
the plan.
Marjan feels claustrophobic in the chest, but stays quiet as she’s transported to the
shop. She gets out of the chest and begins looking for the storyteller. She can’t find him, and
she asks around for him. Suddenly, a boy approaches her and offers to lead her to him if she
would pay him. She agrees, and the boy leads her through alleys, and Marjan has trouble
keeping up due to her injured foot. Finally, they come up upon a split alley, and the boy says
she must wear a blindfold. They continue and Marjan recognizes that they are now in a hut. She
takes off the blindfold and recognizes the storyteller. He asks why she is there, and she answers
that it is secretive and just wants to hear a particular story. He agrees and she pays him. He tells
part of the tale, but time is running short for Marjan to get back in the chest that will be
brought back to the palace. She tells the storyteller that she will be back the next day, or he will
write the rest of the story in a message and send it back to the palace.
Marjan is taken back to the palace, but Sharazad and her sister cannot get her out of the
chest. Even worse, the Sultan’s mother was coming up to the room. Finally, they took a crowbar
to it and got her out just as the Sultan’s mother came in. She looked around, suspicious. The
three tried to look as innocent as they could. The Sultan’s mother left and Marjan quickly
repeated what she heard from the storyteller. The next day, Sharazad said that the Sultan
enjoyed the story and it was how he remembered it from when he was young. The next plan to
get Marjan out of the palace was to dress both Dunyazad and Marjan as men and get them to
the storyteller’s house again. They get to the bazaar and look for the boy again. They spot him
and he takes them to the hut again. This time, Marjan lifts the blindfold and remembers the
way there. They get the rest of the story, then the storyteller tells them that they will need to
plan a way to get them into the palace. His plan is to dress them as men again, then have them
travel with a band that is going to play in the palace. They are stopped by a guard before
getting in, because the guard wants to check the bundle that contains Dunyazad’s and Marjan’s
change of clothes. A couple of band members start to play and distract the guard, while the two
slip inside and change in an empty room. After they dressed, they split up. As Marjan was going
to her room, a lady stops her and tells her that the Sultan’s mother wanted to see her. Marjan
reluctantly follows. The Sultan’s mother seemed very angry when Marjan saw her. She
demanded to know who the man was who Sharazad was seeing. Marjan answered that there
was no other man than the Sultan. The Sultan’s mother sprang from her chair and began
beating Marjan. She demanded again, and Marjan said the same thing. After beating her for a
while, the Sultan’s mother ordered Marjan to be put in the dungeons. Marjan hurt very badly.
She sat in the dark. She waited and waited, until finally someone opened the gate and entered.
It was Sharazad, and she brought candles, food and water. Marjan was extremely hungry and
thirsty. Sharazad told her that they were planning on something to get Marjan out, and to be
ready for it. Marjan wondered if Sharazad was going to leave, and Sharazad said no. Marjan
asked her if she loved the Sultan, and Sharazad said yes. Marjan became angry, for she couldn’t
understand how Sharazad could possibly love someone who forced her to tell stories, and
someone who killed his wives. Sharazad told Marjan there was nothing wrong with loving him,
but hating is wrong. Marjan was thankful toward Sharazad for risking her life to care for her.
Sharazad then left.
Later on, the gate opened again, and a girl told Marjan that she must hurry and escape.
Marjan follows the girl to the top of the palace where the bird woman lived. The bird woman
was waiting beside a basket. She explained to Marjan that she would need to be lowered down
in the basket, then find her way to the storyteller’s house. Marjan asked why, and the bird
woman answered that the storyteller was also Abu Muslem, the famous man who helped
women escape from the city. She got into the basket and the bird woman began lowering her.
Marjan heard a scream, and saw guards where the bird woman was previously standing. She
jumps from the basket and runs away, with guards giving chase. She loses them and makes her
way to Abu Muslem’s house. Abu lets her inside and explains what he and his friends will do to
smuggle her out of the city. Marjan would need to stay low for a few days, then Abu would
come for her.
She waited, but felt worried for the bird woman and Sharazad. The Sultan’s mother
would have Sharazad killed. Marjan decides that she will go back to try and rescue them. She
walks up to some guards and they capture her. She is taken directly to the Sultan. He is dressed
very splendid, with a crown studded with jewels. He demands to know what is going on. Marjan
says that she has a story for him to hear. He tells her to go on. She tells the story she has made
up based on how life is for Sharazad and that she didn’t know parts of the story and everything
that happened while Marjan was there. The story had fictitious characters, but it was based on
the life of Sharazad. In the end of her story, she said the main character was forgiven for her
wrongs, and was honored by the king forever. The Sultan’s mother said that the story was
outrageous, and that Sharazad had another man and that they were plotting against him, the
Sultan. The Sultan asked if the story was true, and Marjan promised it was. The Sultan grabbed
Marjan’s hand and demanded to know if the main character in Marjan’s story (Sharazad) loved
the king even for the things he had done, and Marjan replied yes. The Sultan asked if she swore
she was telling the truth, and Marjan swore. The Sultan ordered Marjan to be taken to the
dungeon, and to talk to Sharazad alone. Marjan waited in the dark, damp dungeon. She found
the bird woman and Abu Muslem in other cells. A woman appeared and told the group that
Sharazad had planned for their escape, and they must hurry. She unlocked the three cell doors
and told the three to follow. Marjan asked where they were going, and the woman replied that
they had to leave the city, or they would be hunted down. Marjan inquired how Sharazad was
doing, and she replied that the Sultan swore to honor Sharazad and he threw a party to
celebrate their marriage. The group was put into a cart, and they were off to somewhere else
to start a new life.
Recommendation for Shadow Spinner
Shadow Spinner is for people that enjoy stories that take place in Persia, or enjoy a fairly
suspenseful book. I thought it was good, because of the main character’s problem in the story.
It didn’t bore me often, just in some parts of the book. The main character’s name was Marjan.
If you don’t enjoy reading books that have an Arabian feel to it, you possibly wouldn’t like
reading this book. I do recommend this book though.
On a scale from 1-10, my rating of Shadow Spinner would be a 7 because it wasn’t
necessarily in my favorite genre. (My favorite genre is action/adventure) What I liked about
Shadow Spinner was problem of Marjan being taken from her home to assist the Sultan’s wife
in seeking stories to please the Sultan and prevent him from killing his wife. (Sharazad) The
problem is that Sharazad began telling the Sultan (The king) story, but neither she nor Marjan
know the rest of the story. Marjan remembers hearing the story from a storyteller, and she
must find him before the Sultan finds out that Sharazad doesn’t know the rest of the story. I
can’t remember what I didn’t enjoy about the book.
I found Shadow Spinner to be an interesting book, not too boring, but then again
definitely not the best I’ve read, just in my opinion.