It is tragic times. We are all shaken by the news of the devastating earthquake on the south eastern provinces of Turkey that left millions homeless. Tens of thousands have lost their lives and so many people have lost their loved ones just in a few minutes on the 6th of February.
Writing is a remedy for the soul in such tragic times and here is a wonderful book for you if you want to read about the glorious past of Istanbul. ‘The Palace Lady’s Summer House and Other Inside Stories from a Vanishing Turkey’ was written by Patricia Daunt. It is a collection of essays she had written for my most favourite magazine: Cornucopia which is the connoisseurs’ guide to Turkey for over twenty five years. Patricia Daunt is the wife of the former British Ambassador to Turkey who had a chance to travel extensively in Istanbul as well as across the whole country.
The book is a delight to read for an Istanbul lover as it gives one the chance to have a glimpse of the glory of this beautiful city. A glory of the last epoch which will never be revived. She talks about an Istanbul of palatial old embassies and glorious Bosphorus summer houses. An Istanbul that is not a part of our daily lives today but of our imaginations.
Nine of her essays tell us the stories of ‘yalis’ which are wooden summer houses by the Bosphorus. The essays are about the ‘real’ people who lived in these buildings and the vanishing worlds they represent. Almost like a requiem for a dream which Istanbul once was, the book takes you away to their worlds. That is a ‘world before us’ that has been completely wiped out by mass tourism, ‘nouveau riche’ and the modern world.
After you read the book, don’t forget to take a boat trip across the Bosphorus overlooking the beautiful summer houses that stand against the test of time, like jewels on the coastline reminding us of Istanbul’s glorious past.
As a Turkophile at heart, we owe Patricia Daunt a deep gratitude for making these stories remembered.
A scene from the Bosphorus Coastline
