Status
Available
Local notes
Fic Whe
Collection
Genres
Publication
HarperCollins (2007), Edition: First Edition, Hardcover, 295 pages. Purchased in 2015. $15.99.
Description
In 1907, sixteen-year-old Julia Hamilton, happy to accompany her diplomat father on a tour of the Ottoman-controlled cities of Istambul, Damascus, Palmyra, and Aleppo, soon finds the journey increasingly hazardous as she begins to uncover her father's true mission and the secret motivations of the other travelers in their group.
Language
Physical description
295 p.; 5 inches
User reviews
LibraryThing member 59Square
I have wavered back and forth about whether this is a teen or a youth book, but I think it should stay in youth. Julia is a 16 year old in 1907 England who lives with her father. Her father is always traveling abroad for his work, and Julia stays at home without experiencing anything. She is
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longing for something new, and convinces her father that she should be allowed to go to Syria with him on his next trip. He agrees, and she goes on a politically charged, dirty, wild experience through the desert. This is at the time that the Young Turks are trying to come into power, and one of the Englishmen with their tour party is trying to get people into this group. The tour group that Julia and her father are with are all lying about their true motives in Syria – no one is as they seem. While Julia is 16, and there is a very light romance with the man rallying for the Young Turks, Julia is very naïve. Careful readers will be able to figure out exactly what’s going on long before Julia does in the last few pages of the novel. I think this book is more suited to the Youth Department, where historical fiction circulates better. And there is nothing in this book that would draw teens to it. Show Less
LibraryThing member Salsabrarian
The strong, descriptive writing and concise, eloquent dialogue have all the feel of watching a classic black-and-white movie. A literary getaway.
Julia is a sheltered but determined 16-year-old who convinces her
father to allow her to accompany him on his next business trip through the Ottoman
Julia is a sheltered but determined 16-year-old who convinces her
father to allow her to accompany him on his next business trip through the Ottoman
Show More
Empire, representing England's Foreign Office. Far more than the leisure trip she expected, Julia finds herself witness to political intrigue and stirrings of revolution against the sultan. Their colorful traveling companions, including the handsome Graham Geddes, a Young Turks supporter, are shielding secrets and conspiracies of their own. Show Less
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Pages
295