DOOR TO BIRDS Katie Hickman
Book read in partnership with "JC Lattés" through 
Constantinople, 1599. A delegation of British merchants is preparing to submit to the Sultan extraordinary mechanical clock, a gift from Queen Elizabeth. Among them, Paul Pindar, secretary of the ambassador for two years in mourning for his girlfriend Celia Lamprey, lost at sea One day he takes the presence behind the forbidden walls of the harem, a young woman like in all respects to his lost love. Could it be that Celia is still alive? The Seraglio, a ruthless struggle for power pits the mother of the sultan and his favorite. The chief of the black eunuchs was imprisoned. Celia became Kaya tries to survive in the midst of intrigues, not knowing whom to trust in this closed universe whose beauty and sensuality conceal deadly traps. The situation becomes even more dangerous when she learns that Paul is also in Constantinople. Centuries later, Elizabeth taveley, who is researching for his PhD, discovered in an Oxford library a fragment of a manuscript about Celia. Immediately, she is passionate about the fate of this young English captive, as if a mysterious link between them. Her quest leads her to Istanbul, to
secret mazes of the harem of Topkapi where a story fell into oblivion for four hundred years waiting to be finally told.
The author
Katie Hickman is the author of five books including two history books became bestsellers. His first novel, The Quetzal Summer, was on the shortlist for the price of the Sunday Times Young British Writer of the Year titles. Katie Hickman lives in London with her two children and her husband, the philosopher AC Grayling.
Price: 20.00 €
Date: February 2, 2011
I expected a lot from this book, in terms of its short, and I was disappointed.
The story is divided into two heroines: Elizabeth, a young woman of our time investigating Celia Lamprey, girl who lived in 1599 and, instead of dying drowned as everyone thought, would have ended up in the harem of a Sultan.
So, navigate between chapters looking for Elisabeth and the memories of Celia. But you do not lose the thread, because the different periods are announced.
I enjoyed the story from the point of view of Celia discover life harem intrigues, his thwarted love. I had the opportunity to read books on the subject and each time I enjoyed the atmosphere described away from brothels you can imagine, we other Western
By cons, Elisabeth left me cold, and finally, I think the story could be based solely on Celia, not the Beth survey, which does not add much to the story. To be honest, I'm bored during the passages relating to it, I found it very slow.
And the end, either side or side Celia Beth left me unsatisfied. What? It does not tell us what it has become? Celia said she went to join his love one last time with the help of the validated and Beth tells us they were never together. What has happened? Why let this outstanding interest-free while the book does not lead to 2nd book?
In short, a disappointment this book, despite the fluid and fast reading and the perfect description of harems and life at the time of Celia in the Middle East, that really made me travel!
