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Last Train to Istanbul

Ayşe Kulin

Start date: April 1, 2019

Finish date: April 30, 2019

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What Members Thought

Feb 14, 2019 Celia rated it really liked it

Shelves: translated, christian-book-club, audible, reading-the-world-read, reading-the-wrld, kindle-list, ten-year-challenge, bookey, 2019-read

A wonderful book with lots of characters I cared for. Will discuss at Book Club tonight.

Last Train to Istanbul by Ayşe Kulin takes place prior to and during the first two years of WWII. It is a very informative historical fiction relating the empathy of Turkey to the Jews in this very dark period of history and before. In this story, we learn that Turkey took in Spanish Jews during the Inquisition after Ferdinand had thrown them out. This book centers on how Turkey aided Turkish and non-Turkish ...more

23 likes · Like · see review

Apr 15, 2019 Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ... rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2019, read-the-world-2018-2020, asian, read-the-world

I enjoyed this book more than expected. From its description I expected too much romance and not enough exploration of the war and its affect on the Turkish characters. However, for the most part I liked it very much. I liked the two sisters and their relationships with each other and their respective husbands. I liked the new information I learned about Turkey's position in WW2, and how they mostly stayed out of it. The book made me curious to learn more and I found myself on Google multiple ti ...more

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Apr 08, 2020 Julianne rated it really liked it

I could not put this down! This is a sweeping novel presents, through fictionalized stories of individual people, ways the Turkish government and Turkish government workers saved Jewish people during World War II. The novel is almost cinematic, focusing on two sisters--one who married a Jewish Turk and moved to France after being disowned by her family, one who married a government worker and struggles with her relationships and herself (this story line was almost... fluffy? I don't think it was ...more

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Apr 19, 2018 Diane Zwang rated it really liked it

Shelves: turkey

3.5 rounded up to 4. The last part of the story really had me captivated and pushed it to 4 stars. What I liked about the book was the setting; Turkey and France; the time period, World war II; and religion, Muslim and Judaism. This is only my second book set in Turkey. I enjoyed reading about sisters Sabiha and Selva growing up in Turkey, getting married and starting a family. I equally enjoyed Macit’s journey and learning all the inter-workings of foreign policy and politics during the war.

Wh ...more

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