This was recommended in an article about genre fiction by Muslim women authors, but the book has little overt religious content, other than a short and pithy sermon preached by a horse. The underlying fairy-tale - the Goose Girl - is followed quite closely, and the setting is a somewhat generic fairy-tale kingdom. Khanani writes well, and the novel is a pleasure to read. The princess has more gumption than the original, as one would expect of updated tales.