Harem Love Journey

Author's name: Asli Sancar

The novel takes place in the Ottoman court (18th century AD), beginning in southeastern Circassia, when Didnur, a seven-year-old girl, is kidnapped from her Circassian village by a strange horseman who puts her on his horse and sails her to an unknown kingdom in Istanbul, where she is sold as a slave to the Ottoman Sultan's palace. There, the girl suddenly finds herself in the Ottoman palaces, the Dolmabahce Palaces, where she, like other slave girls, undergoes intensive lessons in refined social etiquette, qualifying her to enter the world of the harem. Sarayli works in the service of Princess Aliya when she is still young. After the princess marries, Didnur faces two experiences in her personal life. The first is harsh when she marries a colonel in the Ottoman army. The second is happy when she marries Ziya, the son of Kamil Efendi, the chief physician of the palace, and gives birth to twins. At that moment, Didnur remembers the words of the stranger who captured her: "Do not be afraid, little girl, many have made this journey before you. And God willing, your life will be better than you ever dreamed of..." He was right, Didnur could not have imagined this blessing, she now has a devoted husband, a mother-in-law who supports her, two loyal friends who care for her, healthy children, and a prestigious position among the Ottoman elite... (Harem: A Journey of Love) is a novel that most expresses the radiant and human face of the women of the harem in the palaces of the Ottomans, Asli Sancar succeeded in presenting it through a journey of love