Jason Goodwin's Edgar Award–winning series set in Istanbul at the end of the Ottoman Empire--The Janissary Tree, The Snake Stone, The Bellini Card, and An Evil Eye--features Investigator Yashim: detective, polyglot, chef, eunuch.For the Guardian, he named a top ten list of books on Turkey.
One title on the list:
Birds without Wings by Louis de BernièresRead about another book on the list.
I keep picking this up – and putting it down again, because I can't quite face the onrushing tragedy. Needless to say, it's the story of a doomed love affair between Philotei and Ibrahim, as relations between Greece and Turkey collapse in the First World War; prelude to the massive population exchange of 1923, which ended Greek settlement of Asia Minor. Gallipoli is in it; so is Ataturk; so are some characters from Captain Corelli's Mandolin. De Bernières insists this is the better book and I believe him.
Learn more about Jason Goodwin and his work at his website.
The Page 69 Test: The Snake Stone.
The Page 69 Test: The Bellini Card.
My Book, The Movie: An Evil Eye.
--Marshal Zeringue
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