A Farewell To Imperial Istanbul (The Ottoman Dynasty Chronicles)
Istanbul, 1922: This is the second novel in a series written by a direct descendant of the Turkish imperial family, exiled a century ago. Indeed, Osmanoğlu describes her book accurately as ‘neither an historical novel nor an academic study’ and admits to being partisan. The dramatis personae that precedes the narrative is a must, helping the reader to understand the complexity of the Ottoman dynasty and to begin to grasp the size of the British and French military presence in Istanbul. Change is imminent: the commander of the nationalist army is one Mustafa Kemal Pasha, better known to history as Kemal Atatürk; the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne is described as the birth certificate of the new Turkey. The novel opens with Sultan Mehmed VI Vahideddin about to quit the Yildiz Palace (and his harem), as golden leaves fall ‘like tears,’ and ends with the humiliating permanent expulsion of the family, in which its members are dispersed to Egypt, Switzerland, Lebanon, France and Hungary, ending a life of glittering ceremonial and sophistication.
The British do not come off well, between Curzon’s machinations and the fielding of professional players in a team supposedly made up of soldiers, for a game in which they are beaten by Fenerbahçe nevertheless. The portrayal of two members of the Imperial family sitting on a rug on a hillside and watching the departure of British forces is more poignant than the official leaving ceremony. The author has material for several novels. The marriage of Fuad and Kerime is one (Fuad was interviewed in 1970, living in poverty in Montparnasse), Hadice Sultan’s illicit love for Kemaleddin Pasha another. Osmanoğlu’s gift is for detail, in the aroma and texture of food, the inlay on a rosewood table, of a piece with the thoroughness of her research.
