The Palace of Tears - Hardcover

Croutier, Alev Lytle

3

293 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385334885 ISBN 13: 9780385334884

Publisher: Delacorte Press, 2000

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The Palace of Tears

On a balmy autumn afternoon in Paris, in the year 1868, young winemaker Casimir de Chateauneuf wanders through the hollow arcades of the Palais Royal. Browsing in a small shop filled with curiosities from the Orient, he spies a cache of fine miniature portraits. Above all others, an ivory-skinned beauty captivates him. Her eyes--one blue, the other yellow. That night they pursue Casimir in his dreams, as one burning question consumes him: Who is she?

Thus begins Casimir's dizzying quest for the object of his obsession. Forsaking his family, his vocation, his country, Casimir sails from Marseilles to North Africa, plunging into a strange new world with blind faith in destiny. His journey leads him to Istanbul, "city of the world's desire." There, in a deserted palace of the former sultan, is hidden the woman of his reveries, the woman with one blue eye, the other yellow. To touch her is forbidden. But in this city of passion, in a Palace of Tears, Casimir is about to discover what it will mean to make a dream real...and what awaits him when his lover is set free.

Filled with breathtaking visions -- from the lavish courts of the Second Empire in France to a boat ride along the Bosphorus, from a sultan's hushed harem to two lovers locked in a long night of passion -- The Palace of Tears is an epic adventure of the heart, as enthralling as a romantic opera, as tantalizing as The Arabian Nights, a lush and hypnotic meditation on the forces of history, fate, and love.

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From the Back Cover:

“Each chapter glows like a small, precious jewel.”
— The Washington Post

“Alev Croutier’s grown-up fairy tale, with its strangely mesmerizing events, operates in a wonderful space between story and history and lures the reader into that place directly.”
— Diane Johnson, author of Le Mariage

“A beautiful little book ... like a rare perfume or an exquisite painting, it commands our complete, rapt attention.”
— Roanoke Times

“This is an enchanting tale of love: a man dreams of a woman while she dreams of a man who is dreaming of her. It reminds me of Silk by Alessandro Baricco, and One Thousand and One Nights, but Alev Croutier has a voice of her own, soft and poetic, like music in a Turkish garden.”
— Isabel Allende, author of Daughter of Fortune

About the Author:

Alev Croutier was born in Turkey. She has written and directed award-winning independent films and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship (the first ever for a screenplay) for her work on Tell Me a Riddle. She is the author of the internationally acclaimed bestseller Harem: The World Behind the Veil. She divides her time between San Francisco and Paris

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