Anatolian Days and Nights: A Love Affair with Turkey, Land of Dervishes, Goddesses, and Saints
''Compassionate, nuanced, tender and informative, this book will change your perspective on contemporary Turkey.'' --- Elif Shafak, author of The Bastard of Istanbul and Black Milk.''Anatolian Days and Nights is an intimate, clear-eyed view of a fascinating country. Joy Stocke and Angie Brenner have captured the contradictions of modern day Turkey, while exposing the complex web of history at the heart of our human story. This book will make you want to grab your bags and hop the next flight to Istanbul.'' --- Alan Drew, author of Gardens of Water''In their touching, often humorous memoir, Anatolian Days & Nights: A Love Affair with Turkey, Joy Stocke and Angie Brenner write vividly about their journeys through a one of the world s most vibrant countries. The landscape and people slip beneath your skin until you are no longer sure whether you've become a part of Turkey or whether Turkey has become a part of you. As a frequent visitor to Turkey, I applaud Stocke and Brenner for skillfully weaving a tale that leaves me yearning to return.'' Harriet Mayor Fulbright, Widow of Senator J. William Fulbright, Founder of the Fulbright Scholarship Program and President of Harriet Fulbright College''Filled with smiles, laughter, dancing, whirling; exotic foods I want to taste and exquisite crafts I want to buy. Joy and Angie walk us down ancient paths where ghosts of the past still dwell; they lead us into cooking kitchens where eggplant and lamb fill today with magic blends of herbs and spices. The authors' love of the culture, then and now...its joy, its challenges, its exuberance... is contagious. After reading this book, I have moved Turkey to the top of my list.'' - --Rita Golden Gelman, author, Tales of a Female Nomad, Living at Large in the World.In their vivid memoir, Joy Stocke, a travel writer from New Jersey; and Angie Brenner, a former travel bookstore owner from California, document their travels through Turkey, spanning nearly 10 years and stretching from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean coast, and from the Iranian border to Istanbul...Every destination on their itinerary is home to ghosts of Turkey's past, but the friends also take time to enjoy ''whitewashed façades tinged sienna in the late afternoon sun'' and ''breeze[s] rustl[ing] through the cobbled streets.'' Over-eager guides embody the country's tumultuous national identity--a mélange of Muslims, Christians, Jews, Armenians, Turks, and more--and descriptions of the past weaved into the present provide a rich portrait of the region. --Publisher's Weekly''There is a lot to be said for two women, one married with children, the other single, who choose to travel through a country where such a thing provokes shock, distrust, and assumptions about the flexibility of their moral character. The two handle awkward or frightening situations with grace and intelligence.'' --Philadelphia Inquirer