Madonna in a Fur Coat

Madonna in a Fur Coat: a Novel / Sabahatin Ali, 200 p.

First published in the 1940s in Turkish and just now available in English.  Raif Efendi is an inexperienced young man from the Turkish provinces whose family sends him to Berlin to study German in preparation for taking over the family business.  One night in a Weimar-ish sounding cabaret, he falls in love with the enchanting singer, and a tale of woe ensues.   Referred to by The Times as "...moving and memorable...".

My Name is Red

My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk, 417 pages. Translated from the Turkish by Erda Goknar. Narrated by John Lee.

Set in 16th century Istanbul and told from multiple points of view, Nobel Laureate Pamuk's hypnotic novel about murder on the fault-line between east and west. The sultan has hired the kingdom's best miniaturists to illuminate a history of his kingdom. Some see the depictions created as heresy. When one of the miniaturists is murdered, the others are all suspects. A wild assortment of narrators tell this beautiful tale.