The ruby in her navel - Barry Unsworth

The Court of King Roger in Twelfth century Sicily simmers with the volatile passions of Christians, Muslims, Jews, Latins and Greeks. Among them, a young Norman called Thurstan Beauchamp finds employment under Yusuf, a Muslim who holds the Christian king's purse strings.

But while Thurstan wishes to be made a Knight, he has little taste for courtly intrigues and instead divides his time between the divine - in the shape of childhood sweetheart Lady Alicia - and the delightful: the sensuous and exotic dancer Nesrin.

However, in his pursuit of love and knighthood, Thurstan has yet to appreciate that he may also be a pawn in a far more deadly game .