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For the complex and touchy themes (atrocities of war, occupation, death, racism, gender, abandonment, aging) in this book, you would think it would evoke a lot of feeling in a reader. But I didn’t find I connected with any of the characters. And because I was not initially connected, I found I couldn’t really care about their plights. Last Letter from Istanbul is a compelling and sweeping tale that crosses decades and takes the reader on a captivating journey through the tumultuous history of a nation that has struggled to maintain an identity, a nation that struggles to find peace. Lyrical prose takes the reader on this unbelievable journey of lesser-known history. The prose entice the reader into continuing: for instance, the birds swarming into the garden to feast on the pomegranates, are described as a carnival of sound, a choas of wings. Yet, one desciption had me a little baffled: the water is eloquent. The water talks, babbles, sings, tells a story? At least it made me think. I loved it though.
Book Review: Last Letter from Istanbul by Lucy Foley
Her liberation has come at a price. She is a teacher now and a child's guardian, she understands duty and responsibility. What then, when circumstances have her questioning her core values? What would her father have said? Or her little brother, who was forced to fight in his country's war? A sorrowful war changes a country forever- changes its people, can the trauma be reversed? Forgiven? Is there room for love in such a hateful sphere?
Weitere Personen sind der in den Krieg gezogene Bruder und ein verwaister Junge, der in Nurs neuem Heim Unterschlupf gefunden hat und um den sie sich rührend kümmert. Don’t miss Lucy Foley’s Sunday Times bestselling crime debut, THE HUNTING PARTY, available to buy now.* The house has been transformed into an army hospital, it is a prize of war in the hands of the British. And as Nur weaves through the streets carrying the embroideries that have become her livelihood, Constantinople swarms with Allied soldiers a reminder of how far she and her city have fallen. Last Letter From Istanbul delivers little of what is promised by the synopsis, laudatory blurbs etc. This has been hailed as a “timeless love story” riddled with “haunting secrets”, and yet the ‘romance’ to me is achingly bland, simply because the two characters in question didn’t seem to connect on any sort of emotional level. The claim to romance is specious at best. As for the ‘secrets’, the mild twist for me was far too little too late. New Sports Biographies and Autobiographies: Gift a Book for the Sports Fan In Your Life this Christmas
Last Letter from Istanbul by Lucy Foley | Goodreads
We meet Nur, a young woman living in Constantinople- her beloved Istanbul- a city brutally overtaken by the Allied Forces. She yearns for the life she lost and is reminded daily of the changes: she sees the Allied soldiers laughing and taunting her fellow people. She is surrounded, consumed, by her justified bitterness. She knows the enemy, and judges those who refuse to see the truth, those who have accepted their great losses. But she also knows that in the face of these losses, she has tasted real freedom as well as great inequality. By 1921 the Allied soldiers had well established themselves in the city of Constantinople. The local inhabitants remained fearful with many also carrying a great hatred against these invaders. The Allies took over their homes and buildings, taking up residence in what were once the grand homes of Turkish traders and successful business people. For one inhabitant, Nur, this occupation, and the war leading up to it, has taken everything from her. Her gentle brother, a teacher, never returned home from fighting and is now presumed dead. Her mother is unable to cope since and struggles daily to deal with her loss. Nur now resides in cramped living conditions with her mother, grandmother and a young orphaned boy, who Nur has committed herself to looking after. Nur’s only little bit of pleasure is her very occasional, and very secret, visits to her old family home across the Bosphorus river.
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In terms of characters, I didn’t really feel like any of them were very fleshed out. I didn’t feel invested in their lives and found them all to be forgettable. I felt totally apathetic towards them all. The book did gain a bit of momentum in the final chapters, but not enough to turn my opinion of the book around. Meanwhile, George Monroe is a Scottish doctor, administering at the local military hospital overlooking the Bosporus, which was once Nur’s grand family home. When the Armenian boy requires help, their lives become entwined with consequences neither could have foreseen. Foley can definitely write. There were some fantastic descriptive sentences in the book and some eloquent observations of the human predicament. Just not enough to sway me. It is a slow read and builds up a dramatic picture of war and humanity by the end. I liked the way it was written from the perspective of four people as this story of love amidst a landscape of conflicting cultures and how it tries to survive.
Last Letter from Istanbul by Lucy Foley Book Review: Last Letter from Istanbul by Lucy Foley
Just didn’t work for me. I love historical fiction. Especially about history that is not well known. I also really like multiple POV stories so you can see several facets of the same story. But I found myself pushing to keep going. The story was soooo slow! Could definitely have used some editing. This will sweep you away for the summer. Lucy Foley blends a rich history, haunting secrets and a timeless love story’ Santa Montefiore, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Deverill series Wir schreiben das Jahr 1921. Istanbul ist nach dem Krieg von Besatzern überlaufen. Die einst so schöne und lebendige Stadt wirkt nun grau und traurig. Viele Familien haben Verluste zu beklagen und mussten ihr Heim verlassen. Unter anderem Nur und ihre Familie. In ihrem Heim ist jetzt ein Lazarett der Britten eingerichtet. Als es Nur eines Tages dorthin zieht, lernt sie den leitenden Arzt kennen. Es scheint sich eine Art Beziehung anzubahnen, die so nicht sein darf. Their uniforms are clean but she sees them drenches in blood. How many men have you killed, she asks, silently….” The Top 25 Christmas Cookbooks for 2023: A Smorgasbord of Inspiration for a Happy Foodie This ChristmasBefore the war Nur lived a happy and very comfortable existence in a beautiful mansion, a place where she had a wonderful upbringing with warm childhood memories. But following the war and the occupation of her beloved city, all that changed as her home fell under the authority of the British Army and was transformed into a hospital. The ending in particular I found quite poignant and the book itself left me feeling quite melancholy and pondering about what I’d just read. Lucy Foley is a very effective writer and it’s definately worth reading through until the end , until you see the bigger picture.
Last Letter from Istanbul by Lucy Foley - Fantastic Fiction Last Letter from Istanbul by Lucy Foley - Fantastic Fiction
The house has been transformed into an army hospital, it is a prize of war in the hands of the British. And as Nur weaves through the streets carrying the embroideries that have become her livelihood, Constantinople swarms with Allied soldiers – a reminder of how far her she and her city have fallen. This conflict between freedom and propriety swirls around Nur and comes to the fore when she finds herself asking for help. George is the enemy personified and I felt for Nur when she’s in his company because of the internal struggles she endures each time. George seems to have less of an understanding of this because he’s one of the occupying forces and a man, although he’s not without a sense of (somewhat) delayed propriety. Set during the occupation of Istanbul by allied forces after the First World War, Last Letter from Istanbul tells its story from alternating viewpoints. Those of Nur, a local evicted from her family home and now living with her mother and grandmother in a far less desirable district; the young boy who has been taken in by Nur; George, the army doctor, whose hospital occupies Nur’s former home; and two unnamed characters in the Traveller and the Prisoner. It becomes clear who they are as the novel progresses. A Well written book about loss and war and the human minds ability to restrain feelings. An Excellent read.” The ending elevates this book to something serious and realistic. Yes, reality at its finest. The story nevertheless will capture the heart and mind of the historical fiction afficionados.The most precious thing in Nur’s new life is the orphan in her care a boy with a terrible secret. When he falls dangerously ill Nur’s world becomes entwined with the enemy’s. She must return to where she grew up, and plead for help from Medical Officer George Monroe. Everyday new inhabitants arrive, fleeing the ongoing consequences of the Great War, the revolution in Russia. Dispossessed, desperate. Regular flurries of chaos at the quays.” The invading soldiers On one of these secret visits Nur is discovered by Dr George Monroe, a medical officer in the British army and to Nur, a sworn enemy. This is not to be their first encounter and as a reader we witness how their tentative but very delicate relationship develops over a period of time. Now the shadow of war hangs over the city, and Nur lives for the protection of a young boy with a terrible secret. Stumbling through the streets, carrying the embroideries that have become her livelihood, she avoids the gazes of the Allied soldiers. Survival is everything.
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