I always enjoy reading Kathryn Gauci’s extraordinarily well-researched historical fiction. The Embroiderer is a multi-generational, multi-point of view family saga spread from Constantinople to Smyrna to Athens then on to Cairo and England from 1822 to 1973. The book focuses around Sophia, a strong female protagonist who deals with emotional and physical traumas in the many wars and skirmishes between Christians and Muslims living in Turkey. She builds a fashion empire in Constantinople. The story, though, actually begins with her great-grandmother Artemis and continues through Sophia’s grandmother Dimitra, followed by Sophia’s children (Maria, Leonidas, and Nina), then Sophia’s granddaughter Eleni (Nina’s daughter). Part of the tale is told in the memoirs of the the great-grandmother.
Gauci conveys a great deal of cultural information about both sides of the conflict and presents a balanced view despite the fact that her heroines are Greek (watch for the surprise near the end, though). Her descriptions of the fashion salons and embroidery ateliers of the time are lovely. She neither glosses over the horrors of war nor glorifies them and shows that, even between “enemies” such as the Greeks and Turks, there can be found, not just profound friendships, but abiding true love. Even her minor characters have well-rounded character arcs, particularly the long-term friend of Sophia, musician/Resistance fighter, Kapitanos Vangelos Karageorgos. Several years ago, I read Kurt Seyt and Shura by Nermin Bezmen, The Parisian by Isabella Hammad, and The Carpet Weaver of Usak by Kathryn Gauci, all of which deal with the Middle East pre-, during, and post- the War to End All Wars. Overall, they tie together nicely to give a sense of the tumult in Turkey, Anatolia, the Crimea, and Palestine.
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The Embroiderer (Kathryn Gauci, July 12, 2017) is available through:
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You can read my interview with Kathryn Gauci here.
You can read my review of The Parisian here.
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