First
Sentence: The man lives, or the man dies.
A group of young Italians, spending much of their time with
Yashim’s friend Ambassador Palewski, are part of the
revolutionaries striving for the reform and unification of
Italy. At the moment, they are exiled in Istanbul with instructions
to kill a Polish Prince. The assignation becomes kidnapping
and the wounding of Palweski, causing him to become involved.
The book has an excellent opening with wonderful descriptions…”the
sea is smooth like watered silk beneath a crescent moon, the
ship’s wake fanning out like a tear.” At the same
time, we are left with a sense of dread. However, it is the
descriptions of food and dishes prepared by Yashim that are
particularly wonderful. One hopes a cookbook might be in the
author’s future.
The two principal characters, Yashim, a eunuch in the service
of the valide—queen mother of the ruling sultan--and
his friend Palewski, the Polish Ambassador without a country
or embassy, are wonderful contrasts to one another, yet we
feel their friendship. Natasha is one of the most complex
characters. We get to know her through the story, as does
Yashim. The other characters are much less developed.
Goodwin writes wonderful dialogue. When viewing Palewski’s
library, a priest comments, “It’s not a collection
you have, Palewski. It’s a disease.” At the same
time, having a dictionary handy is useful…”I palliate
the torment, Palewski, by a strict diet of incunabula…”
One thing that does help is to have a good overview of the
history of this period. An Advanced Reader’s Copy unfortunately
does not include any “Author’s Notes” which
may be in the final publication. One is, instead, thankful
for the internet. Without it, the motives can be a bit difficult
to grasp. Credit where due, however, is that Goodwin does
do a decent job of providing the information within the text.
The Baklava Club has humor, suspense, interesting characters
and wonderful descriptions. It’s not, perhaps, the best
of the series, but it’s still worth taking the time
to read.
Reviews
of other titles in this series
The
Janissary Tree #1
The
Baklava Club #5
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