Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ing the Balkan Wars. Nicholson, who was based here as a diplomat, based the novel's
main character on his wife, Vita Sackville-West.
Graham Greene's 1932 thriller Stamboul Train focuses on a group of passengers travel-
ling between Ostend and İstanbul on the Orient Express. It was filmed in 1934 as Orient
Express .
Historical novels set here include The Rage of the Vulture (Barry Unsworth; 1982), The
Stone Woman (Tariq Ali; 2001), The Calligrapher's Night (Yasmine Ghata; 2006), and
The Dark Angel (Mika Waltari; 1952). Young readers will enjoy The Oracle of Stamboul
(Michael David Lukas; 2011).
Although best known as Pamuk's English translator and John Freely's daughter, Maur-
een Freely is also a writer of fiction. In her 2007 novel Enlightenment she writes about
truth, repression and the personal and political risks of becoming enmeshed in a foreign
culture.
Alan Drew's 2008 novel Gardens of Water follows the lives of two families in the af-
termath of the devastating earthquake that struck western Turkey (including İstanbul's
outskirts) in 1999.
THE DARK SIDE OF THE CITY
İstanbul features as the setting for some great crime novels. If you're a fan of the genre, you may
like to read or see the following:
» The Inspector İkmen Novels Barbara Nadel investigates the city's underbelly in a suitably grip-
ping style. Whether they're set in Balat or Beyoğlu, her books are always evocative and well re-
searched. Start with Belshazzar's Daughter (1999).
» The Yashim the Ottoman Investigator Novels Jason Goodwin writes historical crime novels
with a protagonist who is a eunuch attached to the Ottoman court. Titles in the series include The
Janissary Tree (2006) and An Evil Eye (2011).
» Murder on the Orient Express Hercule Poirot puts ze leetle grey cells to good use on the famous
train in this 1934 novel by Agatha Christie. It was made into a film by Sidney Lumet in 1974 and
features a few opening shots of İstanbul.
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