Portrait of a Turkish Family - Softcover

Orga, Irfan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0907871828 ISBN 13: 9780907871828

Publisher: Eland Publishing, 2003

Synopsis

Describes in chilling, yet affectionate, detail the disintegration of a wealthy Ottoman family, both financially and emotionally. It is rich with the scent of fin de siecle Istanbul in the last days of the Ottoman Empire. His mother was a beauty, married at thirteen, as befitted a Turkish woman of her class. His grandmother was an eccentric autocrat, determined at all costs to maintain her traditional habits. But the war changed everything. Death and financial disaster reigned, the Sultan was overthrown, and Turkey became a republic. The red fez was ousted by the cloth cap, and the family was forced to adapt to an unimaginably impoverished life. Filled with brilliant vignettes of old Turkish life, such as the ritual weekly visit to the hamam, as it tells the "other side " of the Gallipoli story, and its impact on one family and the transformation of a nation. "It is just as though someone had opened a door marked `Private' and showed you what was inside.... A most interesting and affectionate book."-Sir John Betjeman. "A wholly delightful book."-Harold Nicolson

About this title

About the Author

Irfan Orga was born into a rich Ottoman family which was decimated, financially and emotionally, by the First World War. He joined the Turkish Air Force but was forced into exile by a law forbidding members of the armed forces to marry foreigners. Living in England with his Anglo-Irish wife and their son Ates, he was largely supported by his wife, though the publication of Portrait of a Turkish Family and The Caravan Moves On made him a literary celebrity in the 1950s.

Review

"This book is a little masterpiece" Robert Fox, Daily Telegraph

"This book is a little masterpiece" Robert Fox, Daily Telegraph

"This book is a little masterpiece" Robert Fox, Daily Telegraph

A wholly delightful book. --Harold Nicolson

It is just as though someone had opened a door marked Private and showed you what was inside.... A most interesting and affectionate book. --Sir John Betjeman

This book is a little masterpiece --Robert Fox, Daily Telegraph

A wholly delightful book. --Harold Nicolson

It is just as though someone had opened a door marked Private and showed you what was inside.... A most interesting and affectionate book. --Sir John Betjeman

A wholly delightful book. --Harold Nicolson

It is just as though someone had opened a door marked Private and showed you what was inside.... A most interesting and affectionate book. --Sir John Betjeman

A wholly delightful book. --Harold Nicolson

It is just as though someone had opened a door marked Private and showed you what was inside.... A most interesting and affectionate book. --Sir John Betjeman

A wholly delightful book. --Harold Nicolson

It is just as though someone had opened a door marked Private and showed you what was inside.... A most interesting and affectionate book. --Sir John Betjeman

A wholly delightful book. --Harold Nicolson

It is just as though someone had opened a door marked Private and showed you what was inside.... A most interesting and affectionate book. --Sir John Betjeman

A wholly delightful book. --Harold Nicolson

It is just as though someone had opened a door marked Private and showed you what was inside.... A most interesting and affectionate book. --Sir John Betjeman

About this edition

• Publisher: Eland Publishing
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0907871828
• ISBN 13: 9780907871828
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 316