An interesting story of a British woman who comes into her own in 19th century Morocoo. Sibylla is strong and ahead of her time. It's a good read.

The Lioness of Morocco is a wonderful family saga of an English woman, whom lived in Morocco with her family. An interesting Historical fiction taking place in the 19th century, following this incredibly strong minded, loyal and clever woman, defying all odds. I enjoyed learning about Morocco of these times, and of the unusual path followed. Thank you NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

I honestly could tell by the writing of the first 2 chapters that it wouldn't be a good fit for our box and had to put it down. I may read it again in the future!

A fantastic historical fiction with an amazingly brave woman protagonist - see Morocco come alive with Drosten's fluid prose.

The Lioness of Morocco was an enjoyable novel, but a little different to what i was expecting. Sibylla was a strong character which I love, but wasn't expecting so much romance. I have been to Morocco and it did bring back some memories. I love to read books about the markets, the culture and way of life etc, especially when the story is based on many years ago. In this novel it was around the mid 1800's.

On the whole, a really good book and one that I would recommend.

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers. This is my honest review.

Reviews can be seen on Goodreads and Amazon.

In 1835, Sibylla is rescued from a near-drowning accident at the London docks by Benjamin, a conniving clerk in her father’s shipping company. At 23, Sibylla is attractive but still single, plus she’s headstrong and has progressive views—she’d even boxed one impudent suitor’s ears! She’s attracted to Benjamin, and with encouragement from her parents, they marry. At Sibylla’s prompting, her father selects Benjamin to fill a vacancy as the company’s agent in Mogador, Morocco, and she accompanies him there. Sibylla happily escapes the confines of pre-Victorian England to exotic Morocco, where she relishes in her freedom. They establish their new home and start a family. She appreciates the Berber culture and even starts a successful business of her own. Benjamin loves wealth more than he loves Sibylla, however, and, feeling neglected, she grows enamored of a handsome French soldier. Benjamin recklessly enters into shady deals and is arrested. Sibylla must decide whether to assist Benjamin or to leave him.

The Lioness was an Amazon bestseller in Germany. Although the English translation could use some structural and stylistic improvements, the story’s premise is alluring. The portrayal of Sibylla as a strong-willed woman who travels willingly to a foreign country instead of living a life of luxury, and who runs a flourishing trading business, is depicted well. While Benjamin isn’t interested in Arab culture, Sibylla’s open-mindedness to all things Moroccan, her business acumen, and willingness to take risks, all propel the novel forward. Through Sibylla’s travels and dealings with local people, we learn a fair amount about Morocco, its land, and the culture, cuisine, and philosophy of Berber society. Although light on coverage of world events, the novel is a thought-provoking historical romance.

This review first appeared in the Historical Novels Review Issue 80 (May 2017)

I didn’t know that this was historical fiction until I read the first page and saw that the story was set in the 1800s. It begins with Sibylla in England. Right from the first chapter, she is portrayed as a conspicuous woman. Not just in the looks department but also due to her strong personality. The world at that time was male dominated but SIbylla still found a way to make her voice heard. Soon after her marriage, she finds a way to convince her father to let her move to Morocco with her husband to oversee his business interests in the country.
Morocco portrayed in this book is just as I imagined. The rich culture of the Arabic and Berber people came alive in the story. I liked the descriptions of the ethnic groups and their dressing. Especially the veiled Arab women who only revealed their faces behind closed doors or in company of other women. I liked the idea of harems. A house where the Muslim women spent time together. Islam is the main faith in the country and the religion was at the backdrop of the story. For instance, Muezzin calling Muslim faithful for prayers was constantly mentioned. Then there was the tea and even shisha. And to my delight, the belly dancers were also mentioned. I really liked the setting of this book. The authors did an amazing job with describing it so vividly that I was transported there. The only thing that I didn’t like was the slavery. I understand that slaves were part of history but I still cringed whenever the word was used.
The book covers a longtime frame. It spans over a period of almost 25 years. This means that we get to meet different generations and also get to see the setting change over time. The characters were well developed and memorable. I especially liked the female characters. Sibylla is a one to admire. Her strength and wisdom earned her the title lioness of Morocco. That and plus the fact that she had blonde hair which the locals compared with a lion’s mane. Different women in the book were portrayed as being quite brave. For instance; when mixed religion marriages were forbidden, it took the strength of women to fight against this ‘taboo’. I liked this portrayal of women especially given the setting of the book where male dominance was revered. However, these ladies showed bravery and were able to change things whenever change was needed.
The Lioness of Morocco by Julia Drosten is a book that I recommend to everyone. The setting is amazing and the authors did a fantastic job with developing the story against this exotic backdrop. In addition, they had carried out a lot of research hence making the setting quite realistic. For instance; the characters live at Magador which is a modern day, Coastal town known as Essaouira. Some of the historic events that took place in the town are part of this story. The storytelling is impeccable. The events are vividly described, characters well developed; there is conflict, an unforgiving desert, a little romance (and tea and dancers). I just loved everything about this book.

Could not find myself caring about the characters so could not get into the book although I was looking forward to reading a book on some type of female empowerment

The lioness of Morocco is British Sybill Hopkins, as famous for her blonde locks as for her fierce personality. Nobody cares about her husband's blond hair, his name is Benjamin and he married the boss's daughter. Along with their family shipping interests, the Hopkinses flourish in Morocco, give birth to healthy children, grow wealthy, and then, are scandalized! And then, they flourish more! The many characters (extended family, servants, neighbors, relations abroad) are interesting, the plot is rich and moves along swiftly.

Romance isn't my preferred genre, but I chose this book for its title since I'd just been to Morocco for vacation and was hoping to learn more about the country. I didn't find in-depth information about Berber-Arab relations, or insight into teachings of the Koran, but descriptions of Mogador (modern day Essaouirra) and Marrakech, the desert landscape, gorges, and Atlas mountains were as lovely as I'd hoped. I found mention of everything I'd come across on holiday: shopping and haggling in the Byzantine souks; fragrant mint tea, saffron and tagine cuisine with couscous and flat bread; architectural features of courtyards, gardens, and terraces of riads; interiors with decorative textiles, and tiles and stucco; fragrances of jasmine, musk, and orange; snake charmers, hennaed hands, storks in the rooftops; local flora and fauna, et al.

I enjoyed this book immensely. The exploits of Sibylla, Andre, and the other expatriates in the Moroccan city of Mogador in the mid-1800s kept my attention easily.

4.5 Stars

The Lioness of Morocco Provides an interesting story and a welcome appreciation of Arabic and Berber culture. This is a well-researched book, with evocative descriptions of Mogador (modern day Essaouira). There was much that I appreciated about the book and its lovely descriptions of Moroccan culture especially from the perspective of lives of women in harems to the unique lives of Berber women. I definitely felt as if the Drostens both understood, and loved, Morocco. I felt they see the beautiful county I've been lucky to see several times. I also enjoyed Sibylla's openness to Arabic culture and language, a characteristic certainly bound to be rare in a Victorian lady. Her embrace of the world she built for her family was what kept my enjoyment of the book strong.

My greatest problem with the book lies at the heart of whether some of the relationships described, particularly one at the end of the book, could truly have occurred with so few familial and social repercussions in that era and in an Arabic culture. By the end, one has to suspend belief and just go with this being a historical romance with a splash of mystery. I was also frustrated by what I can only assume were inconsistencies in the editing of either the initial German text or in the translation, such as "He paid little heed to her (Aynur's) tears and laments" and two paragraphs later "She (Aynur) made sure he never saw how she cried with exhaustion or loneliness." Sorry, but this stuff just irks me and there were other similar instances in the book. That's bad editing, and the husband and wife team comprising Julia Drosten deserve better.

The characters of this book are very diverse and there is huge variety of them in this creation. I always admire strong women characters, who take charge in difficult situations. Sybilla is like that, strong, ambitious and she doesn’t give up easily. All the information about harems was very mesmerizing and exotic to me. I loved to see how women treated each other and their surrounding in Arab country in 19th century. I found that the words and phrases used in this book was not very easy for me, as its written in old days style, and had to use dictionary couple of times. I really loved that all the main characters views and feelings were taken into consideration and expressed in the book, it was not the story just from one characters perspective. I was really pleased that every chapter had something happening. There were many twists and drama in the book and it made it really appealing. However there were few places where plot was quite predictable. The ending was really enjoyable and nicely concluded the story.