Portrait of a Turkish Family by Irfan Orga [Book Review][VIDEO]

I was one of the lucky ones to win this book from Duke and he was kind enough to send it to me although his original message had gone to my OTHER folder of FB and I did not see it until a
lot later. I really loved this book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and had a hard time putting it down to go to sleep. Exceptionally well written, it drew the reader in from the start, first into an
almost fairy tale life of a little boy born at the beginning of the 20th century in Ottoman Istanbul. Coming from a well-to-do family, we see how quickly his charmed life turned around forever after Turkey entered World War I and the men in his family were killed. He had to give up all he knew for a harsh reality , including giving up 15 years of his adult life and his brother’s life to the military in return for an education and a chance to be something in life. We see how pleasant life for a family of their social status was before the war, how well they lived, their beautiful home, their enchanted lives, their servants, the food they ate, their jewelry, their days at the Haman and then we see how in a matter of months everything changed for them as their father and uncle were sent to war, never more to return, their house burned down with all their money in it, having to see his beautiful mother work so that they would not starve and their aristocratic grandmother reduced to poverty and having to do without her servants and home. It is the transformation of the Turkish people through a horrible war into an independent nation under Atatürk, but as seen through the eyes of one family, in particular one little boy who grew up so fast. We are horrified by the changes in this beautiful city, but even more heartbroken by the changes in this family’s life and new station in life for the two young boys and all they had to suffer. The books gives us great insight into a pivotal time in Turkish history, giving details I had never known or imagined. At the same time it is written in a delightful manner which makes it hard to put down. It is immensely rich in descriptive detail, really painting a picture for me so it was easy to image everything Irfan went going through, the customs and clothing and houses of that era. the only thing hard for me to imagine was that it was actually an autobiography and that the author had lived through all of this! Now I am hoping to be able to read Birds without Wings!
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