A new series on Fethiye Times is launched today. Each month we will introduce you to a Turkey related book we have enjoyed – indeed they are all books owned by the Fethiye Times team.  They will be a mix of novels, history and travel books all related to Turkey.  We'll also provide a link for the title so you can buy it through Amazon bookshop.

This month we start with a tale from the late Ottoman period called The Sultan's Seal by Jenny White.

The Sultan’s Seal  by Jenny White is a detective story set against the exotic backdrop of Istanbul of the late 1880s.  A time of great change in the Ottoman Empire, when Turkey was actively trying to westernize its image and, by so doing, upsetting many elements of the multi-cultural mix that comprised the still huge Empire.

As well as a rip roaring who dunnit, you can feel like you’re really immersed in the sights and sounds of what life in Turkey was like back at the turn of the century, during the times of the Sultans.

Jenny White is a professor of anthropology at Boston University and the author of many non-fiction works on Turkey. The Sultan’s Seal is her first novel published in 2006 and, we hope, there will be more to follow.  If you do read this book let us know what you think – we couldn’t put it down.