BOOK REVIEWS: TRADITIONALLY TURKISH
Bernard Trink

Bangkok Post
/traditionally-turkish
July 24 2009

The Sultan’s Seal
by Jenny White
Available at Asia Books and leading book stores, 350 baht

Turkey is one of those countries that pops up now and then in world
history, often enough for its name to be remembered yet too seldom
for even the well-educated to rattle off who the founding father of
its republic was. Most think its capital is Constantinople.

They massacred a whole lot of Kurds or Armenians, or somebody. They
have harems and baths. Lawrence of Arabia beat them all in
battle. Strong cigarettes. Muddy coffee. Belly dancers. Young Turks,
a musical group? No disrespect intended, but that’s what comes to
people’s minds when Turkey is mentioned.

One more thing, come to think of it. The museum of jewelled artefacts
in Topkapi. That film about a gang of thieves at work there gave
viewers the scenic tour of Constantinople/Istanbul/Stamboul a
half-century ago. To those who didn’t see it, the country is somewhere
between Greece and Iran. Backpackers will be more precise.

Jenny White is a Yank anthropologist, Turkish politics and society
her speciality. The Sultan’s Seal is her first work of fiction. The
story is set in 1886, the protagonist her literary creation Kamil
Pasha the magistrate for Istanbul’s Beyoglu Lower Court.

The author prefers Istanbul, sometimes Stamboul, to Constantinople. She
notes that at the time Turkey was known as "the sick man of Europe"
in diplomatic circles. It had long since passed its prime, though
Sultan Abdulhammid reigned like his 15th century predecessors.

The Balkans were declaring independence, Westernised Turks were trying
to depose him, England and Germany vying to exert influence. People
were being assassinated. Duplicity in the palace was the order of
the day.

The Secret Police spied on everybody, torture and disappearances
common. Kamil wisely steers clear of Royal mischief. Still, he can’t
overlook the body of an English woman found floating in the Bosphorus
wearing a pendant with the Sultan’s seal.

Sybil the British Ambassador’s daughter joins Kamil in his
investigation, in the course of which they fall in love. This might
have been an interesting crime thriller had White not filled the 403
pages with flowery descriptions of everything traditionally Turkish.

Telling the reader about the Golden Horn, courting practices, amd
acts of revenge is one thing, but the author knows her subject too
well and that’s the rub. We learn far more about 19th century Turkey
than we possibly want to know. Every floor, every vase, every dress,
is detailed ad nauseam.

I’ve been to Turkey, finding some of it awesome and some dull. I
wasn’t too regretful to leave it for my next port of call. To be sure,
every land should have at least one anthropologist in love with it
as White is with Turkey.

Which may well enhance her non-fiction works, yet novels require a
less pedantic approach. I trust she’ll take this into account when
writing about sleuth Kamil Pasha who, hopefully, won’t wed silly Sybil.