Customer Reviews

Halide's Gift: A Novel

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book was written by someone who cares deeply about women's rights and their lack in Ottoman Turkey at the turn of the century. The attitude is objective and the tone full of love for characters that are of such a different road of life from the author's. Having elements of both the Orient and the Occident in her upbringing and personality, Halide was one of the first Turkish girls to attend a school which has contributed tremendously to the enlightenment of Turkish women -- namely The American College for Girls, of which I am a graduate myself...

I'd like to correct a couple of minor details, though.. The mosque in Scutari is called Mihrimah, and I've never heard the name Mamounia [Edip's third wife]... Another point is that in those days it was not usual for women to go to mosques, even for funerals. Otherwise it's obvious that a thorough research went into the preparations for this book.

I agree with those who say that this book didn't really match its description. I thought it was going to be more in the vein of "magical realism" (like Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Isabel Allende) in terms of explaining Halide's "gift". Instead this was only a very small and minor part of the development of the story. I also thought that the story would be told using Halide's voice or at least her point of view (from a woman's perspective). A lot more time was devoted to the male characters than I would have expected and this seemed to take away the focus from the important female characters who I would have liked to learn more about. It was an enjoyable book to read simply because it took place in a time and place that I know little about, but it definitely didn't live up to my expectations.

This book that was written by an American (Mrs. Frances Kazan) gives a very accurate picture of the daily life in Istanbul during the last years of the Ottoman Empire. While I was studying history at the Turkish public schools where I was born and raised, I often wondered how the daily life of the people in Turkey was during those difficult years. This book gives an account of the daily life from a Turkish woman's point of view - A Turkish Woman who was trained in a western school.

I disagree with Mr. Dimostenes Yagcioglu's comments that the author's knowledge of the Turkish Culture and language being superficial. The Harem life, the coffee houses at Pera, dinner at Tokatliyan, and the lokums of Haci Bekir etc. were all described correctly.

The beginning of Halide's Gift was quite promising; the death of Selima, Edib's finding of another man's picture in his dead wife's locket, the mystery of Halide's sister Mahmoure, and her relationship with Riza, Halide's ability to see and hear the dead ... there were a lot of interesting little undeveloped plots that kept me reading. However, as the book continued, it didn't seem to develop in line with the expectations I had for it. Halide seems to be the least interesting character in the novel, and I think she would have been more interesting if Kazan had told the story more from Halide's point of view. I got no deep sense of Halide's faith or her inner strength. Since she did tell the story in the third person, I wished that there had been greater development of characters other than Halide. These other characters--Granny, Mahmoure, Edib, and particularly Teyze--actually seem much more interesting than Halide herself, but Kazan doesn't develop these characters to any satisfying extent. She touches on them just enough to make me wonder what makes them tick. I got the feeling that she didn't "know" them well enough (particularly Edib) to delve into the meanings behind their motivations and actions and to write them to be more believable. Also, it's almost as if she has so many characters and so many small plots going on that she can't do justice to any single one.

I also found the title to be a bit of a misnomer. Halide's "gift" is an ability to see (and communicate?) with the dead that later manifests itself in an ability to write arresting fiction. This "gift," however, is a very minor part of the story, and it seemed weird that the entire novel would be named for it. It was almost quaint the way this "gift" was brought up in the end--quaint and ultimately unsatisfying for a reader who was hoping for something more emotionally and intellectually stirring.

Finally, I found the writing to be rather poor. The sentence structure was very repetitive and predictable, and the descriptions were not rich enough to make me feel like I was experiencing Ottoman life at the turn of the century.

I do applaud the author in her choice of a subject matter, however. Halide's Gift definitely piqued my interest regarding the historical figure of Halide. I had never heard of her until I read this novel. I'm sure she was much more interesting than the novel portrays her to be.

This fictionalized account of the famous Turkish author and nationalist Halide Edip Adivar transports you to the closing days of the Ottoman Empire with its clashing European and Ottoman cultures, palace intrigues, and the Sultan's spies in the streets of Constantinople.

The book covers Halide Edip's pioneering years as the first Turkish student to attend the American Girls College in Istanbul (now Robert College) and her beginnings as an author. Kazan, like her subject Halide, writes from a woman's point of view, unveiling "konak life" in the harems of old Istanbul. If you've ever been to Istanbul you can picture all the places mentioned in the book and imagine what it was like in the late nineteenth century.

I was a bit disappointed that the book only covered the early years of Halide's life.

I loved this book and felt that Mrs Kazan gently opened
a new window to me, to a culture, time, and people far away yet in some ways in terms of the heroine of the book very close.
I'd love to be able to read more on Halide Adivar but we are unable to find English translations of her work here in US.
I gave 4 stars instead of 5 because there were times I felt Kazan could have developed her characters with more depth, and given the reader even a better feeling of the city. for example the neighborhood Halide ended up living in the European quarter could have been described in more vivid detail same goes for the Ottoman palaces Yildiz, and Cirakan. I am not sure if this was part of the fiction but I was delighted to read that Halide dumped the Mathematician loser who was making plans to take on a second wife and married Mr.Adivar quickly after. Beautiful cover artwork too! A must-read if you are into historical fiction.

If you like to read about strong, well-written women characters, you'll like this book. Yes, the author could get more detailed about the Ottoman lifestyle but let's remember this is a novel not a text book. The book has given me a beginner's look into the time period and people. The story progresses and doesn't slow down for a second. Frances Kazan has written about characters we care about and wonder what will happen to them in upcoming chapters. Thanks for a great read, Mrs. Kazan! PS: Check out the glossy in the back pages-I didn't notice it at first.

This is only a brief note for now, because I am so excited about "Frances'Gift To Me" that I just can not wait until I have to a bit more time to write an in-depth review of her work.

So, two days later, here I am, back with more.
Firstly, unlike another reviewer who faulted Ms. Kazan's writing style, I found her style pleasant and fluent. Second, her knowledge about Turkey is more than sufficient, but open-minded as well.
My only gripe is that this book is too short! Or perhaps she has Part II, The Sequel, in the pipeline?
I grew up in Turkey, in the 1960s, and Halide Edip Adivar was one of my favorite Turkish woman writers. Halide Edip was a great woman, and a great writer, an enlightened leader, woefully forgotten in the West, and a virtual unknown in the United States.
So, Ms. Kazan has given me a personal gift by (obviously) liking and respecting Halide, and penning this eminently legible, interesting novel based upon her life, better said, her formative years.

Herewith I am issuing a public plea to Frances Kazan to return to her writing desk and produce the Sequel, beginning with Halide Edip Adivar's courageous stand by Mustafa Kemal, the Founder of Modern Turkey.
Meanwhile, gentle reader, let me repeat with all my heart that HALIDE'S GIFT is excellent reading based upon an intriguing, worthy subject.

Halide Edib Adivar (Halide is pronounced ha-lee-DAE; not ha-LEED ...) was one of the most important writers of modern Turkey's first decades. She wrote about two dozen novels that helped consolidate modern Turkish literature. She also was a very interesting political personality. Though a fierce nationalist, she defended pluralistic multi-party democracy, gender equality, and closer, stronger Turkish-American relations, even when these goals were not fully shared by the powers that be in Turkey. Although an admirer of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, she had the courage and the integrity to oppose him when she thought he was wrong.

It is commendable that Mrs. Kazan intorduces this author to the English-speaking public. She chose to do that through a semi-biographical novel, and a quite well-written one at that, but she concentrated on Halide's youth, not on the years when she shone and achieved her greatest accomplishments.

This, however, is not the problem with the novel. What is wrong with his novel is that the author has only a superficial knowledge of the Turkish culture, and what is worse, a superficial knowledge of the Turkish language.

That is dismaying, given the fact that Frances Kazan has an MA in Turkish Studies from NYU. The Turkish Studies professors at NYU apparently have not done a very good job.

...If one is able to overlook this problem, however, the book is worth reading.

A richer, fuller story could have been told by a better writer. All of the characters and settings required for a great story are here, but the narritive left me wanting more. Ms. Kazan obviously has ties to the publishing world due to her marriage to the famed director. This book fails as a drama because I didn't care aboout any of the characters as they held no special interest for me because they were so one-dimentional and Halide never realizes her "gift". The book dosen't really hang together. You can find something else better to read... try just about anything.