Unto the Tulip Gardens: My Shadow

Description

The sumptuous Topkapi Palace in eighteenth century Istanbul is a place of breathtaking splendour where human foibles, love, lust and above all greed reign supreme in the lives of a sultan, a painter, a grand vizier and some of the world's most beautiful women. Imperial favour has raised a graceful blossom to the symbol of a time that history would later name the Tulip Era. Sultan Ahmed III reigns over a still vast empire as his close companion and Chief Imperial Painter Levni creates exquisite works of art. But real power lies with his trusted Grand Vizier Ibrahim Pasha. In the background, the radiant denizens of the imperial harem fight for supremacy in their cloistered universe. How will history record Sultan Ahmed III? Hedonist, aesthete or reformer? What will happen to his descendants? 'Unto the Tulip Gardens: My Shadow' is a novel founded on historical fact woven by the silken yarn of imagination.

Dr Gul Irepoglu is an architect, art historian and novelist, mostly writing historical novels based on stories of the Ottoman Court, the harem and Istanbul. Feyza Howell is a highly sought after literary translator, and enjoys working with her friend Gul Irepoglu. This is the second Irepoglu novel she has translated, and the third Irepoglu book in total.