The Aviary Gate, Katie Hickman
The Aviary Gate, Katie Hickman
3 Rating(s)
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The Aviary Gate
A Novel

Author: Katie Hickman

Narrator: Josephine Bailey

Unabridged: 12 hr 27 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/30/2008


Synopsis

Elizabeth Staveley sits in the Bodleian library, holding in her trembling hands a fragment of ancient paper. It is the key to a story that has been locked away for four centuries—the story of a British sea captain's daughter held captive in the sultan's harem.

Constantinople, 1599. There are rumors and strange stirrings in the sultan's palace. The chief black eunuch has been poisoned by a taste of a beautiful ship made of spun sugar. The sultan's mother faces threats to her power from her son's favorite concubine. And a secret rebellion is rising within the palace's most private quarters.

Meanwhile, the merchant Paul Pindar, secretary to the English ambassador, brings a precious gift to the sultan. As he nears the palace, word comes to Pindar that the woman he once loved, Celia, may be alive and hidden among the ranks of slaves in the sultan's harem. Can this really be the same Celia who disappeared in a shipwreck? And if it is, can the two be reunited?

About Katie Hickman

Katie Hickman is the author of five books, including two bestselling history books, Courtesans and Daughters of Britannia. She has written two travel books, Travels with a Circus, which was shortlisted for the 1993 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award, and Dreams of the Peaceful Dragon. She is the author of the novel The Quetzal Summer, for which she was listed for the Sunday Times Young British Writer of the Year Award. Katie lives in London with her two children and her husband, the philosopher A. C. Grayling.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Carey on September 04, 2008

Katie Hickman's "The Aviary Gate" is a story within a story. In present day Oxford Elizabeth Staveley, a graduate student, is looking through the Bodleian Library archives in search of material for her thesis on captivity narratives. She finds a fragment of a manuscript which describes a shipwreck a......more

Goodreads review by Patrizia on August 28, 2017

Una giovane studiosa trova in biblioteca il frammento di una pergamena che la riporta alla Costantinopoli del 1559. Inizia così una narrazione a due livelli: la ricerca svolta nel mondo contemporaneo e la ricostruzione della storia di una donna dell'harem di Mehmet III. Scontro/incontro tra culture......more

Goodreads review by Betty on February 09, 2009

Mystery, History, and Love Story during the Ottoman Empire Haunting & refreshingly different, the story begins when a small scrap of old manuscript, dating to 1599, is accidentally discovered among the texts of Elizabeth’s studies. Elizabeth feels she must learn the fate of Celia, the betrothed daugh......more

Goodreads review by Silviana on April 03, 2020

O carte captivanta,pe care o recomand-mister,suspans,pasiune...Toate îmbinate cu eleganta intr-un decor oriental -Bosforul,Cornul de Aur....haremul ,deținătorul a sute de povesti,pierdute ,neștiute.......more

Goodreads review by DubaiReader on October 26, 2011

Life in an Ottoman harem. This received quite mixed reviews on Amazon UK, and I had reservations when I began reading. Fortunately I was pleasantly surprised and found it a very enjoyable read with plenty of historical interest and atmospheric descriptions. There are two time frames used in the novel;......more