Last Letter from Istanbul: Escape with this epic holiday read of secrets and forbidden love

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On one of these secret visits Nur is discovered by Dr George Monroe, a medical officer in the British army and to Nur, a sworn enemy. She’s there in the city which is no longer hers, with a child to look after who holds a dangerous secret. I could have quite happily put this down and not finished it and I really do not think I would have minded. The story of Nur and George, and all the other characters in this novel, are interwoven against the most spectacular backdrop of mysterious and far-flung locations. Last Letter From Istanbul delivers little of what is promised by the synopsis, laudatory blurbs etc.

Last Letter from Istanbul by Lucy Foley | Waterstones Last Letter from Istanbul by Lucy Foley | Waterstones

Ultimately, the lengthy descriptions overpowered what little command the story itself held rather than complementing it.Discover the joy of reading with us, your trusted source for affordable books that do not compromise on quality. As the book began to come to a close, it felt as though two trains were on an inevitable collision course. Last Letter from Istanbul is a compelling and sweeping tale that crosses decades and takes the reader on a captivating journey through the tumultuous history of a nation that has struggled to maintain an identity, a nation that struggles to find peace. It’s well written and so descriptive you could almost imagine yourself there tasting the local delicacies or feeling the breeze from the Bosphorus. As the narrative progresses the boundaries between friend and enemy, innocent and guilty start to become blurred.

Last Letter from Istanbul by Lucy Foley - Fantastic Fiction Last Letter from Istanbul by Lucy Foley - Fantastic Fiction

Before the Occupation, Nur’s city was a tapestry of treasures: the Grand Bazaar alive with colour, trinkets and spices; saffron sunsets melting into the black waters of the Bosphorus; the sweet fragrance of the fig trees dancing on the summer breeze . When he falls ill, Nur's world becomes entwined with the forces she perceives as ruining her city, as Medical Officer George Monroe steps in to assist. I shed tears as I watched that program, as the inhumanity of this time was so evident in this old man’s face. But I, too, was aware of the limits my culture dictated, the expectations and I haven't always been permitted to do as I wish.Found it very difficult to get into and nearly gave up reading it, but as I was chosen by Love Reading to review it I thought I would keep going. The sweeping horror of war and occupation, both momentous and insidious, is clearly felt, yet it is the intimate, the individual connections, that were the highlight of this read for me. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. I will start with the positive, and that is Foley transports the reader to Constantinople, the streets and people come alive and I could really envisage it. This is certainly not a character study; the characters lack emotional complexity or personality and are otherwise too numerous and indistinguishable to be memorable.

Last Letter from Istanbul by Lucy Foley (9780008169107

The plot itself is not fast paced but each chapter we look through a window into each character and through their experience of daily life in the occupied city, we gain an understanding and an empathy with Nur, George, The Boy, The Prisoner and The Traveller .

A sad, but beautiful ode to the people who claimed it as their own, and those who occupied it after the war. There were some fantastic descriptive sentences in the book and some eloquent observations of the human predicament.

Last Letter from Istanbul by Lucy Foley Book Review: Last Letter from Istanbul by Lucy Foley

Of course, Foley had a wondrous location to recreate and the scenery descriptions are about the only thing I liked of this book. Memories float on the breeze – the fragrance of the fig trees, the saffron sunsets of languid summer evenings.But a story that should in theory have been compelling felt otherwise entirely aimless - Last Letter from Istanbul is a slow moving, meandering slog that never achieves anything. Now the shadow of war hangs over the city, and Nur lives for the protection of a young boy with a terrible secret.