The Turkish Lover [Hardcover]

Esmeralda Santiago (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 17, 2004

Along with Sandra Cisneros and Julia Alvarez, Esmeralda Santiago has emerged as one of today's preeminent Latina authors. Legions of fans have waited five long years for the next chapter of the story begun in her memoirs When I Was Puerto Rican and Almost a Woman. And now the wait is over. In The Turkish Lover, Esmeralda finally breaks out of a monumental struggle with her powerful mother-only to come under the thrall of "the Turk" and discover that romantic passion, too, can become a prison. Esmeralda's journey of self-liberation and self-discovery is a daring one, candidly and zestfully recounted, and leads, most surprisingly, to her graduation from Harvard. (Her view of that venerable institution is an eye opener, told as only a brilliant writer totally outside the mold can tell it.) The expansive humanity, earthy humor, and psychological courage that made Esmeralda's first two books so successful are on full display again in The Turkish Lover, which will both reward the author's faithful readership and extend it. Hers is a fresh, exciting, and necessary voice. A Merloyd Lawrence Book

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"I will teach you everything," says Santiago's lover, the Turkish filmmaker Ulvi Dogan. "But you must listen to what I say." Thus begins the deftly understated saga of an intense, abusive relationship in Santiago's third memoir. When I Was Puerto Rican (1993) and Almost a Woman (1998) examined Santiago's Puerto Rican childhood, her adolescence in New York and her emerging acting career, when Dogan spots her in a phone booth and offers her an audition. Santiago revisits their seven-year relationship with uncommon candor and directness. Dogan controls Santiago's every moment, yet Santiago believes he "was gentle and understanding" of why she couldn't always obey him. In their nomadic lives (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; New York; Syracuse, N.Y.; Lubbock, Tex.), they make up and break up as Santiago devotes herself to Dogan's graduate studies and career. But when a traffic jam unexpectedly delivers them to Harvard Square, Santiago blurts out, "I belong here." So it happens that at 25, she enters Harvard. It's the beginning of the end with a man who "might love me, as he claimed, but he had no idea, no clue whatsoever, of what was important to me." Although there's nothing here to delight readers seeking a vicarious dip into another culture (which When I Was Puerto Rican provided), Santiago's latest will grow on readers. Her slow self-realization is deeply human.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School - Santiago's memoirs, which began in When I Was Puerto Rican (Perseus, 1993) and Almost a Woman(Knopf, 1999), continue. At 21, she left her family and her home in Brooklyn to be with Ulvi. She was not sure she loved him, but she was convinced that this was the step she had to take "into the rest of her life." A Turkish immigrant, he was much older, worldly, domineering, and condescending. Their relationship was lopsided. He didn't allow her to answer the phone, pick out her own clothes, or drive. While Ulvi earned two masters degrees and a Ph.D., she helped him with his research and typed his papers. But all was not lost. By the time Esmeralda had the strength to separate from him, she had earned a degree from Harvard University and was supporting herself. In addition to exploring themes of feminism and racism, Santiago shares her personal view of life. When life becomes frustrating, she falls back on the theory that "there [will] always be another train." This memoir is realistic and humorous, and its themes and lessons are just waiting to be discovered. - Sheila Janega, Fairfax County Public Library, Great Falls, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; 1ST edition (August 17, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738208205
• ISBN-13: 978-0738208206
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,065,317 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Turkish Lover, June 11, 2006

By 

Anna M. Ligtenberg "AnnaLovesBooks" (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Turkish Lover (Hardcover)

I often wondered, as I read this book, whether it was among the most self-serving blather I'd read in ages or one of the best books I'd read in years. Really, what's more self-serving than immortalizing your own existence in a book? And how much better when that book makes a former lover, who treated you poorly, look like a fool - repeatedly? In the end, though, the answer is - one of the best books I've read in years! If the periodic Spanish phrase intimidates the English-reading-only, don't let that stop you - almost every phrase is smoothly translated in the text.

Esmeralda Santiago, oldest of eleven children, runs away from home. At age 21, "runs away" sounds strange, but it is what she does. To be with her probably-Armenian-insists-he's-Turkish lover, Ulvi Dogan, she leaves her mother's home and begins to find herself by first leaving behind "Negi", the name she was called at home. Ulvi likes her just the way she is - naive, innocent, rather obedient and not at all a "spoiled American girl" - and calls her Chiquita. He treats her almost like property, looks on her family with disdain and works hard to keep her from growing, changing, and making friends. What Ulvi likes about her, and the way she honestly writes about it, makes the reader actually understand a little why she stays with this man, who is seventeen years older than she and would obviously not be able to have a relationship with a strong-willed, independent woman of his own age with opinions of her own - one who would certainly not let him call her "Chiquita". Without her honesty, the sentence "I was nothing Ulvi had told me many times." on page 23 would leave the reader wondering what could possibly be worth reading for the next 300 pages.

Esmeralda's relationship with Ulvi begins to end from the very start, when he returns from a stay in the hospital and locks himself in the bedroom to talk to another woman. It takes years to conclude. From Florida to New York to Texas and back to the east coast, often together, sometimes apart, Ulvi and Esmeralda seem to live two lives - his and theirs. Every break-up or time spent apart gives her more insight into herself and more courage to become Esmeralda, with her own life, until - one step at a time - she eventually finds herself, in every sense of the phrase, at Harvard. It seemed only fitting to me that her graduation should be in Boston in 1976, the 200th anniversary of the independence of America.

One small pleasure, for the nosy (like me!) reader: run "Ulvi Dogan" through a search engine. More than half of the hits are for this book, very few relate to "his" movie. A small thing, but I disliked the guy enough to smile when I saw that! I feel as if I should confess that I'm white, and living in a neighborhood that is mostly Hispanic and that a good chunk of the Spanish population here is Puerto Rican. Maybe that's what ultimately made this book such a pleasure - I could identify bits and pieces of culture and tradition from the book in the lives of people I know and care about. Or maybe it's that, despite her constant reference to her culture and the race issues that crop up throughout, Esmeralda's just a woman, and this is a story any woman of any age or race can relate to on some level. Either way, this title's well worth the time and has me looking forward (or, more accurately, backward) to finding her other works.

- AnnaLovesBooks

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Ode To Love, May 24, 2005

By 

Alan Cambeira "author of Azucar's Trilogy" (Dominican Republic, author of Tattered Paradise...Azucar's Trilogy Ends) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Turkish Lover (Hardcover)

Esmeraldo Santiago continues being captivating and at the same time totally refreshing. It is mainly because of her wonderful literary skill: distinctively interwoven poetic lyricism, rhapsodic narrative and rhythmic dialogue. Santiago's prose flows with a ready elegance, yet it has a seductive element that is quite subtle. She speaks for many young Latina women when she daringly exposes her vulnerability to the traditional and often overwhelming horrors of an abusive machismo ... whether boricua, dominicano, mexicano, Turkish or Anglo-Saxon. Ultimately, she triumphs gleefully with the astute realization that "there's always another train on the way."

THE TURKISH LOVER, unquestionably like the previous offerings from this powerfully talented writer, is certain to touch the lives of many of her readers. This latest work by Santiago is a joyous ode to love itself. Te felicito, hermana.

Alan Cambeira
author of Azucar's Sweet Hope...Her Story Continues.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book I ever read., January 28, 2005

By 

Betito Medel "RobertoRMS" (Hayward) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Turkish Lover (Hardcover)

Don't let the title of this book fool you. It is NOT a story of some Turkish romance. Its the dynamics of how a highly intelligent, enlightened and educated young woman can still be in a dependant, abusive relationship. It shows that these rocky relationships, if you let them, can help us grow. Women should not feel ashamed if they have been in a relationship like this. We feel Esmaralda's vunerability in this book, as well as her great joys and accomplishments. As a Puerto Rican woman growing up in New York City in the 50's and 60's, she witnesses these thing early on, seeing how women are viewed in society, and in Puerto Rico. If you are without a man you are a Jamona, an old piece of ham. This is the story of a Puerto Rican woman who doesn't want that for herself , but must struggle with her independance without the help of her familia. I am envious of her independance and work ethic. I am also madly in love with the Puerto Rican culture. She describes her culture with such warmth, of the good and bad. Every turn of the book something exciting happens. The book contstantly moves forward. This book moved me and inspired me. The most moving part of this book is the conclusion that,no matter how successful and educated you are the most important thing is to be understoud, and accepted and loved unconditionally. Thank you Esmaralda for your vunerabelity. I can't wait to read your next book. Your dynamic life as touched me deeply.