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The Architect’s Apprentice
by Elif Shafak
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In 1540, twelve-year-old Jahan arrives in Istanbul as keeper of a white elephant intended for Sultan Suleiman’s menagerie. The animal brings him into the palace and eventually to the attention of Mimar Sinan, the chief royal architect. Jahan becomes one of Sinan’s apprentices while serving in military campaigns and learning how domes, aqueducts, bridges and mosques are designed and built.
His education unfolds amid court rivalry, religious suspicion, fire, plague and a forbidden attachment to Princess Mihrimah. Sinan’s workshop offers fellowship and intellectual freedom, but its achievements are vulnerable to men who regard knowledge as power to be controlled. Spanning decades of Suleiman’s reign, the novel connects artistic creation with the violence, hierarchy and cultural exchange of the Ottoman capital.
Historical people
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