Tuesday, February 15, 2011

2011 book 47

Michael David Lukas' The Oracle of Stamboul
The summaries of this book are all like "A young Jewish girl becomes the adviser to the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire" but that doesn't really happen till more than 2/3rds of the way through the story. Instead, it's the story of a young Jewish girl who is blessed with some particular gifts, like a massive intellect and a flock of hoopoe birds who follow her around, but she also has to deal with tragedy and political intrigue. No matter how you describe it, it's an excellent novel, and Lukas can really turn a phrase. A.

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