Frances
Kazan’s new book, The Dervish, takes
place in Turkey during the years immediately following
World War I. The dramatic conclusion to Kazan’s
previous novel, Halide’s Gift, this
story centers on Mary, a young American war widow who
travels to Istanbul to be with her sister and brother-in-law,
who works at the American Embassy. Once there, Mary
is swept up in the simmering Turkish revolution hastened
by the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in WWI. Mary,
an artist, sees Turkey as country that others can't
or won't see – a place where East meets West with
its attendant beauty, mystery and different customs.
Told in the first person (an older Mary reflecting back
on those years), Mary describes her reactions to the
revolution and the key role women played in hastening
the overthrow of the Ottoman Empire.
For
history buffs like me, Mary’s character is symbolic
of America’s evolving but still naïve role on
the world stage after WWI, a Wilsonian view of a world
of self-determination. I found that her naïveté
serves as a counterpoint to the cynical machinations
of the British to dominate Turkish politics and squash
the emerging revolution, to which Mary is quite sympathetic.
This is not an in-depth historical novel rich in character
development and plot nuances, but rather an introduction
to some of the key figures in Turkey. Though Mary’s
eyes, I had an overview of the swirl of events occurring
in Turkey and a fascinating introduction to something
with which I was utterly unfamiliar: the place and politics
of that time. Frances Kazan has written a
suspenseful story of a little known but significant
historical event that deserves to be told. An easy and
enjoyable read, The Dervish held
me spellbound to the very end.
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