The ruby in her navel - Barry Unsworth

Thurstan, a young Norman and would-be Knight at the Court of King Roger in Palermo, has been in love since boyhood with Lady Alicia, now returned a widow from the Holy Land. At the same time, he is enthralled by the earthy sensuality of the dancer, Nesrin, whose troupe he brings to Court to dance for the King. In a compelling tale of love, passion, intrigue and treachery, Thurstan finds himself caught in a tangle of plots, counter-plots and deceptions that threaten to destroy him.

Set in twelfth-century Sicily against the backdrop of the Crusades, Barry Unsworth's brilliant new novel tells the story of how the war between Islam and Christendom impinges on both Thurstan's mind and his heart. His journey towards freedom and love, driven along by the forces of history in the making, is both moving and unforgettable.