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31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Your brush is the bowstring that brings the wild goose down.", March 2, 2006
This review is from: The Sultan's Seal: A Novel (Hardcover)
Jenny White, an anthropologist and the author of numerous nonfiction works on Turkish society and politics, has written a real winner with her debut novel, "The Sultan's Seal." A historical mystery with a bit of romance thrown in, this book makes for an unputdownable read! Ms. White paints a remarkably vivid portrait of life in 19th century Turkey, from the luxurious sultan's palaces to the most squalid slums of Istanbul, and writes intelligently of the political turmoil of the period.
Set in the ancient city "Stanbul" on the Bosphorus in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire, (1886), political intrigue, espionage and social upheaval are rife, even in the sultan's harem. "Young Turks," a reformist and strongly nationalist group of men, forced the restoration of the constitution of 1876. This new generation of Ottoman political thinkers were convinced that the Empire would never be truly modernized until it had adopted a democratic government and a constitution rather than undiluted power in the hands of the sultan. Gathering secretly in Istanbul, then in exile in Europe, "these reformers propagandized against the governments of Ali Pasha then, when Ali died in 1871, against the increasingly autocratic rule of Sultan Abdulaziz." There is a tremendous struggle taking place to find a middle ground between traditional values of the non-secular East and the very different, more progressive ways of the West.
Meanwhile, the Ottoman defeat in the war of 1877 against Russia imposed an indemnity of $100,000,000 on the Turkish government. By 1881 the whole empire went into receivership. "The British, French, Dutch, German, Austrian and Italian creditors set up the Council of Administration of the Ottoman Public Debt and took control of certain revenues." The nineteenth century came to an end with the Ottomans under the political and economic domination of European powers and the threat of Western domination is obvious during the period the "The Sultan's Seal" takes place.
Kamil Pasha, our protagonist, is a magistrate in the new secular courts of Istanbul. He is extremely intelligent, a modern man with a good understanding of the foreign community as he had been educated in both England and Istanbul. When the naked body of an English woman is discovered floating in the Bosphorus in Pasha's district, he begins an investigation, making the acquaintanceship of the English ambassador's daughter, Sybil, in the process. The dead woman, a governess in the royal harem, was wearing a pendant inscribed with the tughra, or seal, of the sultan. Sybil, an independent and attractive young woman devoted to her ailing father, assists Kamil by contributing information she compiles through her connections in the royal harem.
Kamil Pasha ties this case to an almost identical death that occurred eight years before when another palace governess was found murdered, wearing the same pendant, which cannot be reproduced without the approval of the palace.
This is truly an unusual detective story filled with a wide range of fascinating characters set against a rich and mysterious backdrop that was Istanbul at the end of the nineteenth century.
One of my favorite characters, Jaanan, is another independent and well educated woman, about the same age as Sybil. She is Turkish, and the niece of a respected jurist and scholar. Her story, filled with adventure and tragedy, ties in with the main plot and is every bit as interesting.
Ms. White's writing is as sensuous as the shimmering harem silks and the waters of the Bosphorus she describes so eloquently. I really enjoyed this wonderful novel and highly recommend it.
JANA
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Istanbul in the twilight of the Ottoman Empire, September 13, 2006
This review is from: The Sultan's Seal: A Novel (Hardcover)
A young Englishwoman's body is washed up on the shore of the Bosphorus, not far from Istanbul, setting of an investigation into her death. This murder mystery is set in the declining days of the Ottoman Empire in late 19th century. It paints a somewhat exotic, romantic picture of life in Istanbul which many readers will find intriguing. The story is reminiscent of books written in the early part of the 20th century (like those of Agatha Christie), full of genteel aristocrats (both English and Ottoman) and palatial residences. Yet the sensual female characters are clearly drawn with a contemporary pen. Readers will understand the origin of the expression `young Turk'. We are shown a society where Muslims, Christians and Jews live and work in harmony. Whether things were truly this way under Ottoman rule, or this is how we prefer to imagine them is uncertain. The Victorians and Edwardians had their particular worldview the book is written with intentional adherence to their prejudices for atmospheric effect. In fact, tensions lurk beneath the placid surface of Ottoman society, as becomes clear at the end.
Part of the story is recounted in flashback which makes it more disjointed than it needs to be. On the whole the book is about more than just the murder but also about the lives of the characters and their inter-relationships. I was disappointed by the many unresolved issues at the end. It is almost as if the novel was left incomplete. The author could have done a better job of tying up the lose ends in a final chapter.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"I have been saved from myself so thoroughly that I am left with a stranger.", February 13, 2006
This review is from: The Sultan's Seal: A Novel (Hardcover)
In the exotic climate of 19th century Turkey, a European governess is found drowned; it is later determined that she has been murdered. The investigation falls to the local magistrate of the region, Kamil Pasha. After establishing the woman's identity, a governess in the Sultan's household, Mary Dixon, Kamil's task becomes decidedly more difficult, separating truth from falsehoods in a complicated political climate where intrigue is endemic to court life. The Ottoman Empire is in turmoil at this point in history, the British insinuating themselves into local politics in an effort to stabilize the region and discourage an alliance with the Russians. Probing for information from reluctant subjects, Kamil sorts through misinformation and half-truths, the most troubling evidence a silver necklace found on Mary's body that leads him to the death of another European governess in the Sultan's employ a few years earlier.
In Turkey, bureaucracy is layered with ritual, bribery, social agendas and self-protection. Thanks to current political uncertainties, the magistrate must navigate the subtle tension between cultures, the British presence disturbing the balance of the old ways, threatening the future. Kamil treads lightly as he interviews a variety of persons who may hold the key to Mary's death, an agonizingly slow process. Most prefer that this distasteful subject go away before anyone important is embarrassed, the mystery made more difficult by the constraints of a society with rigid standards of behavior, each new clue fraught with ambiguity. From the royal palaces to the home of the English ambassador, Kamil uncovers unexpected intrigues, finding himself attracted to an unlikely young woman, the English ambassador's daughter, Sybil. It is she who discovers a critical piece of information, thanks to her friendship with the women of the harem, unwittingly putting herself in danger in her naiveté and desire to please the conscientious magistrate.
White unveils an assortment of characters straight out of the pages of Scheherazade, powerful men and their servants, eunuchs, manipulative women in the Sultan's harem and a young woman who suffers the rejection of society after a brutal attack that ruins her hope for marriage. Individual stories take on lives of their own, clouding the murder with layers of deceit, passion and betrayal. Anthropologist White does an impressive job, mixing fiction with history, the changing face of the Ottoman Empire struggling against outside influences, a burgeoning science vs. traditional religion and a patriarchal society that leaves women to forge their own rules, where jealousy foments in silence and power is sheathed in a velvet glove, but just as deadly. Luan Gaines/ 2006.
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