'Captivating and compelling. A masterpiece' Independent on Sunday
Louis de Berni res is the best-selling author of Captain Corelli's Mandolin. His most recent novels are Birds Without Wings and A Partisan's Daughter.
A more ambitious novel than Captain Corelli, and a better one
*Financial Times*
A mesmerising patchwork of horror, humour and humanity
*Independent*
A magnificent, poetic, colossal novel... Superbly written... It is,
in every sense, a sublime book
*Irish Times*
His most serious and ambitious achievement to date
*Times Literary Supplement*
Pleasurable... Like Steinbeck, de Bernières deserves praise for his
imaginative sympathy
*Independent on Sunday*
A more ambitious novel than Captain Corelli, and a better
one * Financial Times *
A mesmerising patchwork of horror, humour and humanity *
Independent *
A magnificent, poetic, colossal novel... Superbly written... It is,
in every sense, a sublime book * Irish Times *
His most serious and ambitious achievement to date * Times Literary
Supplement *
Pleasurable... Like Steinbeck, de Bernieres deserves praise for his
imaginative sympathy * Independent on Sunday *
It's been nearly a decade since Captain Corelli's Mandolin became a word-of-mouth bestseller (and then a major feature film), and devotees will eagerly dig into de Bernieres' sweeping historical follow-up. This time the setting is the small Anatolian town of Eskibah?e, in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire. The large cast of characters of intermixed Turkish, Greek and Armenian descent includes breathtakingly lovely Philothei, a Christian girl, and her beloved Ibrahim, the childhood friend and Muslim to whom she is betrothed. The narrative immediately sets up Philothei's death and Ibrahim's madness as the focal tragedy caused by the sweep of history-but this is a bit of a red herring. Various first-person voices alternate in brief chapters with an authorial perspective that details the interactions of the town's residents as the region is torn apart by war; a parallel set of chapters follows the life of Kemal Ataterk, who established Turkey as a modern, secular country. The necessary historical information can be tedious, and stilted prose renders some key characters (like Philothei) one-dimensional. But when de Bernieres relaxes his grip on the grand sweep of history-as he does with the lively and affecting anecdotes involving the Muslim landlord Rustem Bey and his wife and mistress-the results resonate with the very personal consequences that large-scale change can effect. Though some readers may balk at the novel's sheer heft, the reward is an effective and moving portrayal of a way of life-and lives-that might, if not for Bernieres's careful exposition and imagination, be lost to memory forever. Agent, Lavinia Trevor. (Aug.) Forecast: Corelli had the advantage of WWII, a prominent love story and a movie tie-in; this book's period and setting are less familiar. Still, readers who enjoyed Corelli will be likely to give it a chance. 10-city author tour. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
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