THE BOOK FAIR
READ AND FULFILL YOUR LIFE
Ayse Kulin
AYLIN
Author: Ayse Kulin
Published: 1997
Genre: Novel
Cover: Paperback
Pages: 269
Review:
Ayse Kulin, the celebrated Turkish author, offers the story of Aylin, an independent, educated, and willful woman, in her novel, “Aylin”.
In the opening pages of the novel, Aylin is found murdered. The story of her childhood, the relationships with her mother, sister, family members, lovers and husbands, follows.
Aylin, a tall, skinny girl with red hair and cat green eyes, of regal heritage, grows into a beautiful, seductive, persuasive, woman. Aylin, capitalizing on her beauty, wanders through life from profession to profession, lover to lover, and husband to husband. Aylin remains throughout the novel an enigma, as she is open, warm and loving, as well as selfish and self-gratifying.
The story opens on a rainy day with the funeral of Aylin at the Calverton National Cemetery for U.S. Army officers. Aylin’s murderer is unknown. Over the course of Aylin’s life, her many choices of friends, lovers and husband’s plot the way to her murder and mysterious killer.
The novel maintains an interesting plot with interesting character development and familial relationships.
LAST
TRAIN TO
Istanbul
Author: Ayse Kulin
Published: 2002
Genre: Historical Novel
Cover: Paperback
Pages: 382
Beautifully written, intriguing and suspenseful, the story centers on an influential Muslim family in Turkey with diplomatic ties, who contend with the marriage of the youngest daughter to a young, Jewish man. Ayse Kulin constructed her historical novel on true events that occurred during WWII.
Turkish diplomats based in France in the 1940’s made the independent decision to rescue Turkish Jews, Jews of Turkish decent, and Jews of other nations caught in the Nazi trap in Vichy Paris. Brave humanitarians, Ambassadors Namik Yolga, Necdet Kent, and Behic Erkin, along with Turkish officials, took responsibility to coordinate the rescue. This rescue effort was handled without official approval of the Turkish Government. The number of Jews rescued, ranges from two thousand to twenty thousand, depending on the source; the difficulty of reliable statistics lies in the lack of paperwork, although in 2012, some evidentiary papers of the rescue became available.
Themes of love, devotion, familial ties and moral courage dominate the plot. Highly recommended!
FAREWELL: A MANSION
Author: Ayse Kulin
Published: 2012
Genre: Historical Novel
Cover: E-Book
Pages: 428
The ambitious work depicts the historic downfall of the Ottoman Empire during the closing years of WWI, interwoven with the personal dynamics and machinations of a wealthy, influential Muslim family.
Suspense and intrigue weave throughout the story as the characters wrestle against dangerous times, grapple with tumultuous events, and oppose political rivals.
The characters personalities expand through their interactions and activities, as the author simultaneously builds the political, wartime narrative. A realistic view of the struggle for independence emerges with images of the Allied occupation provoking civil unrest and the response of nationalist revolutionaries and counterrevolutionaries amid and religious agitators. In the fray, the new women’s rights movement contests traditional social mores.
Colorful depictions of daily life as well as power struggles between family members and relationships of tender, passionate love, circle throughout the novel.
Highly recommended!
Love in Exile
Author: Ayse Kulin
Published: 2016
Genre: Historical Novel
Cover: E-Book
Pages: 386
The biographical novel of the author’s family, constructed through the tales of different relatives over several decades. Richly descriptive in aspects of culture and history, and the sequel to “Farewell: A Mansion In Occupied Istanbul”, the novel contains many more characters than the first. Either due to the translation, or simply, the stories of the lives and events of many characters, the novel failed to connect as sensitively as did the previous, or as did “The Last Train To Istanbul”. Further, in previous novels, the author allowed the characters to relay the story whereas in “Love in Exile,” the author overwhelmingly relayed the story.
Without A Country
Author: Ayse Kulin
Published: 2018
Genre: Historical Novel
Cover: E-Book
Pages: 324
The first half of the novel reads quickly contending with Nazi Germany, the escape and emigration and proves far more interesting than the second half of the book that bogged in a multi-generational saga of familial relationships, and decades of events in Turkish Politics. Only a few of the characters are genuinely developed, and still fewer are likeable with admirable qualities.
Divided into three sections, the novel begins in the 1930’s and advances forward to the end, in 2016. For the purpose of varying viewpoints, either political or social, a variety of characters are introduced into the novel, however, the story is told through the few members of the émigré family, who once turned to Turkey to escape Hitler’s Germany.
Political themes of fascism, nationalism, assimilation and homophobia mix with the underlying theme of anti-Semitism.