Joy Stocke

I have mixed feelings about this book. I am not quite sure what it was trying to be.

I think a lot of readers might be put off by the amount of autobiographical details of the various love affairs of the two authors - although equally well, perhaps this may be a pull to other readers, and frankly, as a woman who has also spent large amounts of time in Turkey, male attention does seem to be an unavoiable part of travelling around as a woman. However, the flip side of this was that the various Turkish people the authors introduced helped make the book feel more authentic, especially when we learned about the views and local histories through the mouths of these characters.

One of the highlights of the book for me was the various historical and mythological details peppered throughout, but these almost seemed to not fit with the rest of the book, which was much more memoir like.

I feel I should have loved this book - it crosses so many of my interests - Turkey, history, mythology and goddesses, but it just didn't quite do it for me. I definitely learned some interesting new things, and the book was great as a spring board for introducing me to new aspects of Anatolian history that I then further researched myself, but the pace of the book seemed at times slow - bogged down with conversations and logistics of travelling, and at other times rushed when only a few lines were dedicated to a fairly unknown piece of history, or Turkish person that they met with.… (mais)

Thanks Goodreads First Reads giveaways for a copy of this book.

When I picked up this book, I was worried that it was going to be either the unrealistic, romanticized view of Turkey by foreign women or a comparison piece, where Turkey is compared to the East and West relentlessly. Instead, Stocke and Brenner tell a frank, entertaining, and informative story of their many visits and their developing relationship with the country, its culture, and its people. This is not to say that they are unbiased, because from the very beginning it is clear to them and to the reader that they really like Turkey. They seem to be very open minded, have a high tolerance for hairy, macho Turkish men, and a knack for meeting the right people at the right time. But most of their adventures are experiences foreigners can and do have in Turkey, a country full of people who love to talk, feed, entertain, and host. The book and their travels captures a part of the immense cultural and historical legacy of Anatolia, the place where there are more ruins per kilometer square than anywhere else in Europe.

As a child, I lived in Asia and went to school in Europe, crossing the bridge twice a day. And most Turks experience this all their lives, literally and metaphorically. Interestingly, the authors experience this in their own way, wishing to be able to live in America and in Turkey, for them in the West and in the East, or at least this part of the East that is much friendlier than many other parts to independent, free women.

As a Turk who grew up with official history, I never learned much about the Christians who live in Turkey or the god of moon, Sin, or the goddess with the fishtail. I was also reminded of some interesting things about Turkey, like that the first Christian church is in Antakya, where we used to go for vacation when I was a baby.

Turkey is an unconventional beauty, waiting for someone to recognize just how special, strange, and unexpected it really is. Stocke and Brenner have done just that in their book.… (mais)