The Architect’s Apprentice by Elif Shafak – Book Review

 

Publisher’s write-up:

‘In her latest novel, Elif Shafak spins an epic tale spanning nearly a century in the life of the Ottoman Empire. In 1540, twelve-year-old Jahan arrives in Istanbul. As an animal tamer in the sultan’s menagerie, he looks after the exceptionally smart elephant Chota and befriends (and falls for) the sultan’s beautiful daughter, Princess Mihrimah. A palace education leads Jahan to Mimar Sinan, the empire’s chief architect, who takes Jahan under his wing as they construct (with Chota’s help) some of the most magnificent buildings in history. Yet even as they build Sinan’s triumphant masterpieces—the incredible Suleymaniye and Selimiye mosques—dangerous undercurrents begin to emerge, with jealousy erupting among Sinan’s four apprentices.’

Note: I read the French translation of the novel

This is a historical novel written by the Turkish writer Elif Shafak, and the story takes place in 16^th century Istanbul. The plot is centred around the character of Jahan, a 12-year-old boy who has come to Istanbul from afar with an elephant named ‘Chota’ to present to the Sultan. The other main characters of the book are real historical figures fictionalised by the author, such as Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, his daughter Mihrimah, and the royal architect - Mimar Sinan.

The story takes us through the era of three different sultans, starting from Suleiman till the reign of his grandson Murad III. The author also touches upon the then Turkish society and the multicultural nature of it, where Istanbul was a melting pot comprising several ethnicities such as the Turks, Armenians, Serbians, Bosnians, Iranians, etc. Even the best friends of Jahan, in the novel, are of different ethnicities.

The plot followed the development of Jahan’s character well, who was at first a mahout and was well recognised by the Sultan for the performance of his elephant during the Balkan conquest of the Ottoman Empire. There was also a romantic sub-plot between the sultan’s daughter Mihrimah and Janhan, a forbidden love considering the different social classes that the two are from. Then, he becomes the apprentice of the royal architect Sinan, and the story then follows till Jahan’s old age.

I liked how she had used the different aspects of the historic Ottoman society. Those who are interested by historical fiction and the middle ages, would enjoy these descriptions. I also could visualize Istanbul of the 16^th century very well based on her description. The relation between Sinan and Jahan, and equally the secrets they had about their lives which was kept from us till the very end, was done well.

While I liked the historical aspect, and even learnt a lot on the Ottoman Empire, I also found that plot is perhaps not the author’s strong point. It is a very long novel without much of a movement even though there were three sultans. The love between Mihrimah and Jahan started well but it was evident to any reader since the beginning that this would not go very far.

To conclude, I would say that the novel was a tad too long but it was still interesting to read a story taking place in the 16^th century Ottoman empire. On that note, I award the book a rating of six on ten.

Rating – 6/10

Have a nice day,
Andy