A Turkish Tapestry Quotes

“How my father found the time to write so prolifically between his job, his travels, his family, his social life and his womanizing is beyond me.”
― Shirin Devrim, A Turkish Tapestry

“Seeing and learning were my elixir) she said. “Your father and I got on much better away from home. We went everywhere. “Where do you want to go?” he would ask me, and we’d go to Madrid to see the Prado, to Florence where | nearly lost my mind when I first saw the Fra Angelico frescoes, to Holland where we visited many museums and where I discovered my favourite painter, Bruegel. In Paris, because of Izzet’s reputation as a writer, they were included in the literary salons. Nissa bought clothes from the Paris couturiers. Everywhere they went they stayed in the best hotels, the great palazzos. On the Riviera they partied with maharajahs, prin- cesses, British lords and ladies, and American millionaires.”
― Shirin Devrim, A Turkish Tapestry

“He showered Seniye with gifts and jewels and loved her with a passion he never felt for another woman. Father had a theory that in certain cases the skin of a man and the skin of a woman worked together so remarkably that there would be a kind of electrical discharge, and passion would be generated. ‘C’est une question de peau; he told me in his old age. Certainly, the skins of Izzet and Seniye flourished magnificently.”
― Shirin Devrim, A Turkish Tapestry

“Latife wore a simple dress with a veil to cover her hair and white gloves, and held a single long-stemmed rose. She was not a beautiful bride; in fact, she was short and stocky, but she had big, intelligent eyes and a formidable intellect. Personality, more than looks, were her great asset. The Gazi married her because he admired her as the symbol of the modern Turkish woman. She would be a role model for the new nation.”
― Shirin Devrim, A Turkish Tapestry

“Every morning, after having read the local and foreign newspapers, she personally carried breakfast to the Gazi, and, as he ate, she gave him a summary of the news. ‘My newspaper, he called her. With her fluency of both English and French, she translated his diplomatic correspondence. His mind was stimulated by her insight, intelligent comments, observations and brilliant arguments. Latife stimulated Kemal not only intellectually but also physically. A masculine mind in a feminine body was a combination he had not encountered in many Turkish women. His passion was ignited; he desired her and made advances. Although she was madly in love with him, she refused to become his mistress: she would be his wife or nothing. Since he wanted her, he agreed to marry her.”
― Shirin Devrim, A Turkish Tapestry

“As I watched her struggling to paint, I knew this was her way of enduring the agony of this long, cold, painful night in Vienna, and my heart filled with admiration for her determination and with compassion for her suffering; yet at the same time I felt irritated and frustrated.”
― Shirin Devrim, A Turkish Tapestry