As the Western world struggles to comprehend the paradoxes
of modern Turkey, Tales from the Expat Harem reveals its
most personal nuances. This illuminating anthology provides
a window into the country from the perspective of thirty-two
expatriates from seven different nations—artists,
entrepreneurs, Peace Corps volunteers, archaeologists,
missionaries, and others—who established lives in Turkey for
work, love, or adventure. Through narrative essays covering
the last four decades, these diverse women unveil the
mystique of the “Orient,” describe religious conflict,
embrace cultural discovery, and maneuver familial
traditions, customs, and responsibilities. Poignant,
humorous, and transcendent, the essays take readers to
weddings and workplaces, down cobbled Byzantine streets,
into boisterous bazaars along the Silk Road, and deep into
the feminine stronghold of steamy Ottoman bathhouses. The
outcome is a stunning collection of voices from women
suspended between two homes as they redefine their
identities and reshape their worldviews