Hello, and many apologies for disappearing... It’s summer and holidays and I’m not going to be gallimaufrying that much for the next couple of weeks since I am travelling to England tomorrow. [capers madly]
(An advertisement for the Sutherland Sisters, on whom Michelle Lovric based her Swiney Godivas; found at Collector’s Weekly where you will also find a fascinating article about them)
However, should you be missing my deathless prose, you can read my two reviews in the latest edition of Shiny New Books: both of which are set in the nineteenth century and encompass Ireland, Venice and Istanbul. Michelle Lovric’s evocative prose weaves an addictive tale of unhinged sisters, celebrity, greed and, yes, hair in The True and Splendid History of the Harristown Sisters, and in the latest instalment of Jason Goodwin’s ‘Ottoman Detective’ series, The Baklava Club, Yashim is drawn into the world of political exiles, intrigue – and, of course, murder. And Shiny New Books is stuffed full of tempting recommendations for summer reading. Enjoy! Don’t tell your bank manager!
(Yeni Cami and Eminönü bazaar, Constantinople, circa 1895: much later than Yashim’s time but perhaps not so very different. From the Photochrom Prints Collection at the Library of Congress; found here)