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The House of War
Set against the background of Turkish independence, this is a thrilling, moving and powerful novel of ambition, love and disillusionment.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
350 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1970
About the author
Catherine Gavin
42 books10 followersCatherine Gavin was born in 1907 in Aberdeen and educated at Albyn Place School and Aberdeen University. She lectured for a time in the History Department and then became a War Correspondent with Kemsley newspapers. She wrote mainly historical fiction, dramatising such events as the Russian Revolution and the battle of Jutland.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 1, 2008
I bought this book at a thrift store in Butler, PA many years ago, and for a long while was reluctant to read something with so dismal a title, but was compelled to read it now due to my imminent trip to Turkey!
And to my delight, it was a really good book! Please note: the relationships in the book are fictitious!
Jeff Barrett and his wife, Evelyn, go to live in Angora (Ankara), the base of Kemal Mustafa (later, "Ataturk," which means father of the Turks) at the start of the Turkish Revolution in 1922, because Jeff is a journalist on assignment from a Chicago paper. Thier marriage has a lot of difficulty, they aren't in love any more, and they bicker constantly.
Jeff is then sent back to Constantinople (Istanbul) to cover developments there, they have a big fight that calls their relationship into question, and both of them are glad that Evelyn will stay behind. Jeff is also excited to get to Constantinople to spend more time with a young Turkish girl, and Evelyn is looking forward to spending more time riding horses with Kemal, the dashing French-speaking General, on the steppe around Angora.
The Chicago paper needs someone to cover events in Angora, and Evelyn is there, having written (very well, in fact) under her husband's byline before. Evelyn, who has little sexual interest in her own husband, is on fire for Kemal, physically and intellectually, but she continues to repress her feelings.
The fighting begins, and Evelyn, uncharacteristically for a woman, at Kemal's request, joins him at the front, and follows the Turkish army battle by battle, driving the Greeks out of Turkey. She is confronted with the horrors of war, including being fired upon herself, but handles them as well as a soldier.
Her war wounds are caressed by no other than the Gazi himself, and Evelyn does some of the best writing she has ever done covering Greek atrocities. Her stories, under her own name, Evelyn Anderson, are circulated in papers worldwide, giving her war reporting credibility, both with the paper and also the Turkish troops with whom she travels, and bringing international support to the Turkish cause of independence.
Meanwhile, Jeff is in Constantinople, and later Smyrna (Izmir), with his "little and cute" pet, Leila, who I felt bad for to some degree, but I was also disgusted, not because of their age difference, but because Jeff did not really respect her, she was like his little toy.
There are several other interesting stories tied in to all of this, such as the dealings of Rosette, Leila's aunt and the madam of a harem, and a murder mystery that ties in with a Major Cravache as well as relatives of the British ambassador. All of it occurs in the setting of the real events in Turkey, battles, pillaging, and peace conferences, blow by blow.
I won't give anything else away, but I must say, I now wish reporter Evelyn Anderson could make love to more commanders-in-chief so that I could learn about the nuances of more wars with as rapt interest as I had in this one!
And to my delight, it was a really good book! Please note: the relationships in the book are fictitious!
Jeff Barrett and his wife, Evelyn, go to live in Angora (Ankara), the base of Kemal Mustafa (later, "Ataturk," which means father of the Turks) at the start of the Turkish Revolution in 1922, because Jeff is a journalist on assignment from a Chicago paper. Thier marriage has a lot of difficulty, they aren't in love any more, and they bicker constantly.
Jeff is then sent back to Constantinople (Istanbul) to cover developments there, they have a big fight that calls their relationship into question, and both of them are glad that Evelyn will stay behind. Jeff is also excited to get to Constantinople to spend more time with a young Turkish girl, and Evelyn is looking forward to spending more time riding horses with Kemal, the dashing French-speaking General, on the steppe around Angora.
The Chicago paper needs someone to cover events in Angora, and Evelyn is there, having written (very well, in fact) under her husband's byline before. Evelyn, who has little sexual interest in her own husband, is on fire for Kemal, physically and intellectually, but she continues to repress her feelings.
The fighting begins, and Evelyn, uncharacteristically for a woman, at Kemal's request, joins him at the front, and follows the Turkish army battle by battle, driving the Greeks out of Turkey. She is confronted with the horrors of war, including being fired upon herself, but handles them as well as a soldier.
Her war wounds are caressed by no other than the Gazi himself, and Evelyn does some of the best writing she has ever done covering Greek atrocities. Her stories, under her own name, Evelyn Anderson, are circulated in papers worldwide, giving her war reporting credibility, both with the paper and also the Turkish troops with whom she travels, and bringing international support to the Turkish cause of independence.
Meanwhile, Jeff is in Constantinople, and later Smyrna (Izmir), with his "little and cute" pet, Leila, who I felt bad for to some degree, but I was also disgusted, not because of their age difference, but because Jeff did not really respect her, she was like his little toy.
There are several other interesting stories tied in to all of this, such as the dealings of Rosette, Leila's aunt and the madam of a harem, and a murder mystery that ties in with a Major Cravache as well as relatives of the British ambassador. All of it occurs in the setting of the real events in Turkey, battles, pillaging, and peace conferences, blow by blow.
I won't give anything else away, but I must say, I now wish reporter Evelyn Anderson could make love to more commanders-in-chief so that I could learn about the nuances of more wars with as rapt interest as I had in this one!
October 9, 2008
Loved this book really really good. If the love story were ever true wow that would be one of the best love stories since Anna and the King. A great story about war and love. The story is real and not real. But a really good read. One that I will read again.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews