As an author, I don't just write, I read too.
Soon, I will be sharing some thriller and crime book recommendations from ones I enjoyed most this year.
Due to current events, I'd like to praise a book here for once that, unusually, isn't about psychopaths and serial killers (or me 😉).
The paperback edition of "The Last Harem" has just been released, a historical novel that is one of my favorite books by Peter Prange. Perfectly researched (the last harem really existed!), with high, current relevance, and better told than, for example, the most recent Ken Follett (in my opinion).
Table of contents:
Constantinople, 1909. In the hidden world of the harem, Fatima and Eliza dream of their futures. While one is determined to become the Sultan's favorite, the other longs for a life beyond the palace walls, for love and freedom. But then the Ottoman Empire crumbles – and outside the seraglio, a world awaits the friends where their dreams turn into nightmares…
And this is what the press writes:
dpa
„Prange skillfully draws readers into the worlds of the two heroines. He brings the everyday life in the harem, this artificial paradise with its monotony, intrigues, and secrets, back to life, just as he does with the behavior of the last oriental despot in the decaying empire on the Bosporus. Prange's vivid descriptions of the sites of Ottoman aspirations awaken a desire to visit. Prange's story is exciting—also because of the fictional fate of the protagonists. But above all, he sweeps everyone into the maelstrom of rapidly unfolding events because he has thoroughly researched and vividly portrays the historical background, which appears foreign and fascinating to Central Europeans.“
Sunday Picture
Elisa and Fatima, friends, harem ladies, fight for life and love. Prange, the German king of historical novels! (Top rating)
Brigitte
„Hardly any other German author manages to bring European cultural history closer to his readers like Peter Prange. (..) An exciting novel with believable characters and excellent accompanying reading for a trip to Istanbul.“
Peter Prange's Homepage: http://www.peterprange.de/
„The Last Harem“ at Amazon.de
