Ever since I first came to Turkey in 1990 after hitchhiking through the UK and travelling in Europe, I’ve read hundreds of books about Turkey in many different genres. Although I graduated in sociology and prefer cultural and social studies about Turkey to history books, basically I read anything that takes my interest. Having said…
A lot of women marry the man of their dreams, set up house, have kids, and settle down to the happily ever after until one day, when everything they wanted has happened, they realise what they’ve got isn’t really what they want. Not so Australian Olivia Russo of Pomegranates and Olive fame. At the first…
Back in 2013 I started a blog to share my experiences of the everyday extraordinary of life in modern Istanbul, but my passion for Turkey started long before that. I first set foot on Turkish soil in 1990 and since then have travelled all over the country and met hundreds of people. I’ve exchanged passing…
George Dearlsey and I have been acquainted for a few years through our interactions in Facebook groups and via private messaging so when he told me he was writing his memoirs I was really pleased. Most of our conversations were about practical matters of life in Turkey, so I only had a vague idea about…
Reading Carla Grissman’s memoir Dinner of Herbs took me back to my first long stay in Turkey in 1990. I was in Göreme, still a small village back then with a population of 2000 and a nascent tourism sector. Most Göremeli still grew their own vegetables on plots of land wedged between fairy chimneys, ate…
I’m excited to share my interview with Jane Gundogan. She’s an author and in her own words, “also a part-time comedian (in her own mind), half-assed blogger and a totally committed vinophile”. Most importantly, she’s the person behind Salep and Ginger, a novel set in Turkey (see my review here). When not attempting to write…
Without going into quite as much detail as Jane Gundogan does in Salep and Ginger, let’s just say I can relate all too well to her heroine Ginger discovering the man of her life was also the main man of another woman’s life. In my case there was more than one other woman, but that’s…
With a few notable exceptions such as Orhan Pamuk and Elif Şafak, many portrayals of Turkey and particularly the life of women here are projected through the lens of Western perceptions of the Middle East – dangerous, mono-cultural, male-dominated and archaic. However Turkey is not an Arabic country, and Turkish people are extremely diverse. They…
I have to admit, first up, that I’m a long-time fan of the Barbara Nadel Ikmen series set in Istanbul. That’s because her stories, full of fascinating twists and turns, never disappoint. The House of Four is no exception. What makes it even better for me is it’s largely set on the Asian side of…
With Christmas fast approaching it’s time to think about presents that leave lasting memories. To me, that always means a book, and if it’s connected to Turkey in some way, even better. I’ve read hundreds of books on Turkey so deciding on titles to include in this Christmas book gift ideas list was hard work….