Staff Reviews

The Enlightenment by Maureen Freely is set in Turkey.  Istanbul is the gateway between east and west, a cosmopolitan city pulled in opposite directions by it’s allegiance to each.   Ms M’s first love was a handsome youth with dark eyes.  She was shattered when he threw her over for another woman.  Now decades later that other women, Jeannie, is asking for M’s help to free Sinan from Guantanamo.  Sinan, a filmmaker of controversial documentaries, was stopped at the airport with his young son and taken into custody.  Jeannie has no idea where her child is being held.  M, a reporter, can publicize their outrageous treatment in the hopes of bringing pressure to bear to free Sinan and his child.  This is a complicated, elaborate story with many a dark twisting alley.   Maureen Freely is also the translator for the fabulously talented Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk.