The story of a modern-day eunuch - fiction

The Shuki Series -
           
      the continuing story of Shuki Bolkiah - modern day eunuch.

'Not a Man' was first in this series -

From boy of the slums to Oxford Graduate. This is the story of Shuki Bolkiah, modern day eunuch.

"Not a Man' is set in an unnamed country of Arabia. Shuki is aged ten, and a 'bed-boy.' His master wants his beautiful boy to stay beautiful, so arranges for him to have 'a small operation.' This traumatic event changed forever the life of a clever, determined boy.

Shuki learns to manipulate his master. He learns to read and write, he gets his master into the habit of giving him large sums of money, and he makes friends with the master's sons.

Shuki becomes more beautiful with every passing year. His master becomes more possessive, more jealous, and Shuki is guarded. When his master takes him to England, he escapes and starts a new life with the money he's saved. He is fifteen.

By Elle "Elle" - Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Not a Man: The Story of Shuki Bolkiah: 1 (Paperback)

Not a Man is as much an exploration of the consequences of unimaginable beauty as it is a story of unimaginable horror. Set against a vivid international backdrop that veers towards fantasy but never so far as to be unbelievable, it tells of Shuki, a beautiful young boy castrated as a child on the orders of his master to keep him that way.

The characterisation is superb, no one is completely good nor evil, and Shuki himself is stoic, tenacious, intelligent and at times downright Machiavellian, but never a victim and importantly, never unlikeable.A unique premise handled with both confidence and compassion. I would recommend this.

 

Review by: Lorraine Cobcroft on July 04, 2012 :

Outstanding for its originality and depth, M.A. McRae’s Not a Man is an amazing work that will transport you to a foreign world. It will let you experience a lifestyle and culture that is most likely vastly different from any with which you are familiar.

This is not a story for the faint-hearted. If you read to escape to a fantasy world where heroes are gallant, heroines are beautiful and spoiled, and endings are always happy, you may not enjoy it. If you are reluctant to face the reality of man’s inhumanity to man, or to recognize that some people enjoy sex in a way that others regard as perverted, it may shock and distress. If you struggle to recognize that those whose beliefs, moral standards and lifestyles many in our civilization abhor are, nevertheless, real people capable of kindness, compassion and love, it may enlighten you, but also disturb you.

I began reading Not a Man feeling more than a little uncomfortable. I expected to be repulsed by the story of Shuki, a boy taken from the slums and castrated before his tenth birthday. The idea of reading about men taking bed-boys and having anal sex didn’t appeal. I knew it happened, but I preferred not to be confronted with it. But I promised the author I would read it, and I was pleasantly surprised to find the story fascinating and educational, as well as enjoyable.
I recognized immediately I began reading that M. A. McRae was no ordinary writer. She has the ability to draw the reader into the story – to bring her characters and settings to life in the readers’ mind. She has a knack of portraying characters a reader may want to despise for their unpalatable behaviour in a way that compels you to understand and forgive their foibles and admire their better qualities. The people she describes are a product of their culture. We may not approve of aspects of their lifestyle, but we are drawn to understand how they came to be what they are and to appreciate and applaud their efforts to be empathetic and charitable.

I wanted to hate Hassanel: a man who could arrange the castration of a child for his sexual pleasure. I wanted to find him vile and repulsive in every way. But I got to know a man for whom this conduct was an acceptable part of the culture in which he had been raised and educated, but who had the capacity to genuinely care for Shuki and want to protect him.

Shuki found his way into my heart. The little boy from the slums who so feared a return to abject poverty that he would agree to an operation he feared, believing he could arrange his escape before it was done, used his charm and guile to secure his own future and to help his suffering family. When he was brutally raped and his best friend—who came to his aid—was killed, I confess I cried. It amazes me now to realize that I liked and admired Ben, and Elei too. These were men who used a boy for sex, so it astonishes me that I could find them anything but repulsive in the extreme. But M.A. McRae introduced me to human beings – good, kind, caring people who succumbed to temptation to perform acts, in private, that gave them pleasure and that certain cultures do not regard as abhorrent.

This book is confronting, but M.A. McRae handles sex scenes tactfully and with respect for readers. Her characters grow and learn, gradually realizing the illogical cruelty of customs such as casting women out as punishment for being victims of a man’s criminal act and the dreadful long-term consequences of castration. We experience the pain and suffering of a eunuch. We share his fears. We grieve with him over his inability to experience sexual pleasure and to anticipate marriage and fatherhood. At the same time, however, we are shown the unique beauty and gentleness that results from castration before puberty. We are helped to recognize the compelling attraction some men feel to a beautiful eunuch. Their behaviour may disturb us, but we are unable to resist the urge to sympathize.

Not a Man is not light reading. It’s a heavy-weight and gut-wrenching tale that will alter your perspective on sensitive issues and your view of the culture and lifestyle it describes.

This is an impressive and memorable work by an author with impressive talent, and one I recommend to readers with confidence that it may shock, but it will never disappoint.

Second in the series is 'The King's Favourite.'

           It was the greatest scandal that Oxford University had ever known. The culprits were the scions of the rich and famous, even of Royalty. The trials went on for years, and the story of the modern day eunuch spread, his beauty and desirability extolled. Shuki Bolkiah was unaware of the full extent of his notoriety, though he knew not to show his face in England, not for fear of unwanted advances, but because reporters were such a problem. He now lives in his own remote home, overlooked by his beloved mountains, and protected by the Daoud family of Naelahin. He has his family, his studies, and is respected. He has come a very long way from his origins.

          Feroz was viewed as a puppet king. Just sixteen, yet he is the all-powerful monarch of a country in Arabia. When an important and complex trade deal hangs in the balance, his Chief Councillor bargains an extra concession to keep his young king happy. Added to the details of the enormous payment promised was the reference to ‘other considerations.’ Shuki’s freedom is traded away by his own country. At the age of twenty-six, he is in the position of a bed-boy again.

          As he told his stepson years later, “Sometimes things happen, and the only choice you have is to accept it, and learn to make a life anyway.” Shuki has no choice, and he makes his life anew in a country not his own. As he’d risen from the position of replaceable bed-boy when he was a child, now he has to do it all over again.

Review by: Debbie Bennett on Sep. 08, 2012 :
The continuing story of Shuki, a modern-day eunuch. Sold by his own country to be a slave to young king Feroz, Shuki never forgets his childhood "family" and yet finds contentment and even love in the strangest of circumstances.

This sequel to Not A Man is again rich in characters and detail, dragging you into middle-eastern culture with all five senses. It positively reeks of authenticity, with hints of the world political events of the late 20th century anchoring the story. Yet again McRae doesn't shirk from the day-to-day details of Shuki's life - from political adviser to the king and all the court intrigue that entails - to the king's sexual preferences and his obsession with Shuki.

'A powerful and addictive read that kept me up late for two nights.

and 'Magical! Still the power of shuki's character leading the reader from page to page. It's not possible to recreate the impact of the first work, it never is, but this still has a powerful attraction in it's own right. It displays all the other attributes of the first book and will mesmerise all that open the first page.'


And Now:  'To Love and To Protect:'

A story of life and of love.

Shuki is home, and enjoying being home. He loves his wives and he loves his children. And Elei. Elei is his chosen love, not Feroz. He may have grown to love King Feroz, but he never took the place of Elei.

To the Daouds, he is someone special, theirs to love and to protect, as their father, the Old Master Hassanel, laid down in his will.

To Shuki, the Daouds’ home is his home, though he does not regard himself as belonging to anyone - or maybe to Elei, as Elei belongs to him.

He is fond of Hasquitri’s children, the girls and the boys. The girls, at fourteen, are of marriageable age, and are closely chaperoned, protected. They are still permitted to ride when suitably escorted, and Shuki makes a point of riding with them. Alone among the men, he knows what it is to suffer under too much protection.

The boys have a full life, learning about their father’s businesses, travelling, enjoying the hunting and the shooting and the riding. But when young Zahu becomes aware of just exactly what he is, the relationship becomes a lot more complicated.

These books are available on most online booksellers including Smashwords and Amazon.

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/Samray

http://www.amazon.com/Not-Man-Shuki-Series-ebook/dp/B0089H5X58/