Under the Spell of a Dragon in Istanbul: A Memoir - Softcover

Pipkin, Jill

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0615508804 ISBN 13: 9780615508801

Publisher: Pipkin Publications, 2011

Synopsis

An American PhD student, Jill Pipkin, disillusioned with research physics, quits her academic program, and splits from her husband. She joins the Peace Corps but finds it too confining. After seeing postcards of beautiful mosaics and Islamic tiles in ancient Istanbul, she travels to Istanbul to photograph them. But Istanbul is a scary place for a young single woman. She is preparing to leave for Iran when she happens across a postcard of a mysterious and exotic ancient hybrid dragon. Mesmerized by its strange image she goes to see it at the Museum of the Ancient Orient. But the museum is closed for renovation. A young man invites her into the museum to see the dragon. He offers to help her find the mosaics and tiles. then invites her to a special dinner and offers her raki, a strong licorice liquer. It has a powerful aphrodisiac effect on her; she seduces him, leading to a life-threatening situation.

About this title

About the Author

Jill Pipkin lives in California in an old Victorian house. Before coming to California with her husband and pets in 1965, she attended both state universities in Florida, majoring in math and physics, and also attended school in Switzerland where she obtained a French teaching degree. At the Universiity of California at Berkeley she enrolled in the PhD program in High Energy Physics, but eventually despaired of the heavy reliance on giant machines and computers required for research. She left the University to join the Peace Corps to go to Kenya. Finding the program too restrictive, she returned to Berkeley to search for a new life and a soulmate, the relationship with her husband having foundered along with her academic career. She finds new friends -- hippies -- but soon finds their lifestyle too dependent on alcohol and drugs. She travles to Mexico to photograph ancient Aztec and Mayan ruins. Back in Berkeley she teaches physcs and her childhood interest in art is suddenly reawakened when a friend show her pictures of ancient mosaics and tiles in Istanbul and she travels there to photograph them. A challenging love affair with a Turkish man develops and she must flee to Tehran to escape his vengeful wife. In Tehran she teaches English. Eventually she must return to Berkeley. She begins work as a writer for a large company. The indoor desk job is anti-thema and she seeks a new career in real estate. At the present, she teaches photography and writes creative non fiction.

Edition details

• Publisher: Pipkin Publications
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0615508804
• ISBN 13: 9780615508801
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 332