Halide's Gift

This is only a brief note for now, because I am so excited about "Frances'Gift To Me" that I just can not wait until I have to a bit more time to write an in-depth review of her work.So, two days later, here I am, back with more. Firstly, unlike another reviewer who faulted Ms. Kazan's writing style, I found her style pleasant and fluent. Second, her knowledge about Turkey is more than sufficient, but open-minded as well.My only gripe is that this book is too short! Or perhaps she has Part II, The Sequel, in the pipeline? I grew up in Turkey, in the 1960s, and Halide Edip Adivar was one of my favorite Turkish woman writers. Halide Edip was a great woman, and a great writer, an enlightened leader, woefully forgotten in the West, and a virtual unknown in the United States.So, Ms. Kazan has given me a personal gift by (obviously) liking and respecting Halide, and penning this eminently legible, interesting novel based upon her life, better said, her formative years.Herewith I am issuing a public plea to Frances Kazan to return to her writing desk and produce the Sequel, beginning with Halide Edip Adivar's courageous stand by Mustafa Kemal, the Founder of Modern Turkey.Meanwhile, gentle reader, let me repeat with all my heart that HALIDE'S GIFT is excellent reading based upon an intriguing, worthy subject.

This is a must read about one of the heroine's ofthe newly formed Republic of Turkey. Beautiful coverand a book by Frances Kazan, wife of American-Armeniandirector, Elia Kazan.

If you like to read about strong, well-written women characters, you'll like this book. Yes, the author could get more detailed about the Ottoman lifestyle but let's remember this is a novel not a text book. The book has given me a beginner's look into the time period and people. The story progresses and doesn't slow down for a second. Frances Kazan has written about characters we care about and wonder what will happen to them in upcoming chapters. Thanks for a great read, Mrs. Kazan! PS: Check out the glossy in the back pages-I didn't notice it at first.

This book that was written by an American (Mrs. Frances Kazan) gives a very accurate picture of the daily life in Istanbul during the last years of the Ottoman Empire. While I was studying history at the Turkish public schools where I was born and raised, I often wondered how the daily life of the people in Turkey was during those difficult years. This book gives an account of the daily life from a Turkish woman's point of view - A Turkish Woman who was trained in a western school. I disagree with Mr. Dimostenes Yagcioglu's comments that the author's knowledge of the Turkish Culture and language being superficial. The Harem life, the coffee houses at Pera, dinner at Tokatliyan, and the lokums of Haci Bekir etc. were all described correctly.

This fictionalized account of the famous Turkish author and nationalist Halide Edip Adivar transports you to the closing days of the Ottoman Empire with its clashing European and Ottoman cultures, palace intrigues, and the Sultan's spies in the streets of Constantinople.The book covers Halide Edip's pioneering years as the first Turkish student to attend the American Girls College in Istanbul (now Robert College) and her beginnings as an author. Kazan, like her subject Halide, writes from a woman's point of view, unveiling "konak life" in the harems of old Istanbul. If you've ever been to Istanbul you can picture all the places mentioned in the book and imagine what it was like in the late nineteenth century.I was a bit disappointed that the book only covered the early years of Halide's life.