The Magician's Wife

Rebecca Murdock is a lawyer with the Toronto firm Ryder Wright Blair &
Doyle.

At the court of Napoleon III, Emmeline Lambert learns that her
husband—the great magician Henri Lambert—has been commissioned by
the Emperor to wage a unique form of warfare in Algiers, a French colony
in North Africa.

Under the blazing African sun, Emmeline blossoms in mind and heart. She
is intrigued by the Arabs, Negroes, Turks, and Bedouins who commingle on
the narrow streets of Algiers. At the same time, she is troubled by her
husband’s efforts to convince rebel forces that his tricks are the
work of Allah, and that France has more magic at its disposal than all
their great sorcerers and “marabouts.”

Foremost a storyteller, Brian Moore handles his political themes with
subtlety and skill. Emmeline is a complex and compelling heroine.

In this fluidly written story of a woman’s awakening to the impact of
French colonialism in North Africa, Moore has created another historical
vignette with big-screen potential.