Enlightenment: A Novel [Hardcover]

Maureen Freely (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2008

In October 2005, only a few months after her Turkish husband is detained and her five-year-old son distributed to a foster family by United States border patrol, Jeannie Wakefield disappears. She leaves behind in Istanbul a fifty-three-page letter to M, an investigative journalist whom Jeannie begs to write about her plight. The letter tells the story of Jeannie's first arrival in Turkey thirty-four years earlier, when she was a bright-eyed sixteen-year-old innocent, shimmering with open-hearted idealism. Desperate to soak up new experiences, well-meaning Jeannie found herself befriended by a group of high school students who would change her life--pretty, cautious Lüset; clean-cut, aristocratic Haluk; sullen Chloe, their jealous American tag-along; volatile, outspoken, and ruthlessly anti-imperialist Suna; and, at the center of it all, inscrutable and effortlessly charismatic Sinan, the dark horse who would steal Jeannie's heart the way he stole M's not long before. The letter goes on to reveal a convoluted tale of political intrigue, of retired intelligence operatives, a grisly murder, and a dismembered body in a trunk. When Dutch Harding, Jeannie's radical friends' beloved American teacher, disappears, the trail of blood leads to her door, and after interrogations, torture, car bombs, and suicide attempts, her clique is splintered and scattered across the globe. Jeannie's diary tells a grim and heartbreaking history of first loves shattered and best friends betrayed, and M finds herself, against her will, tangled in Jeannie's narrative. Jeannie has only asked her for one favor--to write one article exposing the horrible truth. But in the "deep state" of post-911 Turkey, nobody is who they say they are, and everyone is a suspect--exactly how much will M sacrifice to save the woman who stole her only true love?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. At the start of Freely's complex, often riveting novel set in contemporary and Cold War Turkey, a journalist known only as Miss M returns to Istanbul in 2005 after a long absence at the request of Jeannie Wakefield, whose father, William, was an American spy. Jeannie hopes that Miss M will write an article to help her husband, once Miss M's lover, who's been detained in the United States and sent to Guantánamo. A few months later, Jeannie disappears, leaving behind a long letter detailing events from the 1960s. The main narrative threads—extracts from Jeannie's letter; Miss M's memories of Istanbul from that same period and her present-day account of investigating Jeannie's long-ago indoctrination into a Communist cell, which was at one point charged with the infamous but possibly apocryphal Trunk Murder—interweave toward a quietly stunning conclusion. Both mystery/thriller and mainstream literary readers will be well rewarded. Freely is the English translator of Nobel Prize–winner Orhan Pamuk's novel, Snow. (May)
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From Booklist

It is no secret that most American’s don’t understand the complex web of social and political intricacies that define life in contemporary Turkey. Freely seeks to unravel both a mystery mired in the past and an archaic societal system that seems out of sync in the present. When Jeannie Wakefield disappears a few months after her Turkish husband is detained, an American journalist with Turkish ties identified only as Miss M receives a rambling missive from Jeannie detailing a tragic tale of deception and intrigue. Miss M’s tantalizing investigations involving international espionage and a grisly murder mystery stretch back and forth through time as she pieces together both Jeannie’s story and her own. Freely tops off this riveting narrative of cold war and post 9/11 Turkey with a chillingly unexpected revelation. --Margaret Flanagan

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Overlook Hardcover; Second Edition edition (May 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590200748
• ISBN-13: 978-1590200742
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,801,327 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

MAUREN FREELY was born in the United States and grew up in Istanbul. She was educated at Harvard University. Perhaps best known as translator of the Nobel Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk, she is a journalist and a professor at the University of Warwick. She lives in England.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Intricate and Thought Provoking, July 4, 2008

By 

Story Circle Book Reviews - See all my reviews

This review is from: Enlightenment: A Novel (Hardcover)

Maureen Freely's Enlightenment is a complicated tale of lies, loyalties, and life that begins in 2005 when American ex-patriot Jeannie Wakefield's husband Sinan is arrested for terrorist links at JFK International Airport and her five-year-old son Emre is whisked away to foster care. Jeannie begs an investigative journalist known only as M to help her tell her story to the world and get her husband and son back. How far will M go to write the story of a suspected terrorist's wife, a woman who not only stole her one true love but also whose tale may put her own life at risk as well?

Enlightenment has its roots in the 1970s in Istanbul, Turkey, and, through the letters and diaries of Jeannie Wakefield, takes the reader through several decades of political turmoil and character growth. Although the characters are imaginary, Freely meticulously follows historical events and cites real news articles. This makes her novel so realistic I questioned whether or not it was truly fiction. Several themes run strong through her novel: communism and the fear of its spread, the complicated international relations between the US, Turkey, and the Soviet Union, political freedom and the lack thereof, and the events of the 1970s that left the Middle East a very dangerous place to be an American.

Freely's characters are complex and realistic. Their thoughts, beliefs, desires, and ambitions are well laid out, and her work is deeply detailed. There are several interesting plots occurring at once, and it is interesting to read Jeannie's diary to discover how her life choices and those of her closest friends have led her to where she is today.

Enlightenment asks the reader to consider the state of post 9-11 America. "I ask all decent men and women in this court why they have condoned such vicious and illegal measures against my family," writes Sinan from his jail cell, where he is being held without trial. The lack of political freedom in Turkey is well laid out in this book, but what political freedoms are being denied in the United States as well? Freely carefully compares the communist-phobia of the 1970s to the Islam-phobia of our modern world.

I enjoyed this book very much. Freely's characters are memorable, her story lines are intriguing, and the final result is thoroughly thought provoking. The ending is sure to shock you. How far would you go to tell the truth if you knew it could kill you?

by Jennifer Melville
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply stunning!, August 4, 2009

By 

Pamela Howard (Bethesda MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Enlightenment: A Novel (Paperback)

I am so happy to see this in the New York Times this week! I came across this book recently and I have to say I was completely drawn in by the lovely cover. And then I saw Orhan Pamuk's quote on the front and I knew I'd have to read this one. I could not put this book down! The plot was so thick and prickly that I couldn't stop turning pages to find out what happened next. Never has a book made me want to travel so much, while at the same time making me feel like I've already been there. Istanbul really comes to life in this intricate political plot and the secrets at the heart of it all will give you chills. I would wholeheartedly recommend Enlightenment to anyone looking for a good thriller, or really anyone who has ever read a book. It was simply stunning.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A gripping, stunning novel, July 21, 2009

By 

Vanessa Willoughby - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Enlightenment: A Novel (Paperback)

Maureen Freely's Enlightenment is an insightful, gripping and timely narrative that not only reflects the author's journalistic background, but her ability to create believable and sympathetic characters. The integration of the Turkish perspective concerning the Cold War and the social and political state of post 9/11 Turkey never feels like heavy-handed a history lesson. Rather, it helps to highlight the personal history and character development of the protagonist, Jeannie Wakefield. The faceless journalist, M, entrusted with Wakefield's letter, is objective with the reconstruction of Jeannie's life, allowing the reader to digest the events as they unfold. Freely writes with confidence and authority, thus placing the trials and tribulations of love against a political background of volatile proportions.