The Oracle of Stamboul (2011) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters/People edit see section history

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• Eleonora Cohen: Young Romanian girl with remarkable intellect. Finds herself in demand among at the Sultan's Palace at a time of huge historical change.
• Yakob Cohen: Eleonora's father. A generous and loving father, he struggles to raise his daughter after her mother dies in childbirth.
• Leah Cohen: Eleonora's mother, she dies in childbirth. Leah's favorite book, The Hour Glass, is a constant companion and inspiration for her daughter.
• Mrs Damakan: The midwife, attracted by portents, to the birth of Eleonora. She takes care of the infant Eleonorauntil Ruxandra arrives.
• Ruxandra: Leah's sister, and Eleonora's aunt, she married Yacob to provide a family for the infant Eleonora.
• Reverend James Muehler: Builds a quick friendship with Yacob Cohen when they are shipmates on the journey to Stamboul.
• Moncef Barcous Bey: A friend of Yacob Cohen, he hosts the Cohens when they visit Stamboul.
• Monsieur Karom: A servant in the home of the Bey
• Sultan Abdulhamid II: Sultan of Stamboul
• Jamaludin Pasha: Grand Vizier in the court of the Sultan of Stamboul

Quotes edit see section history

• “Meanwhile, in a small gray stone house near the top of East Hill, Leah Cohen was heavy in the throes of labor. The living room smelled of witch hazel, alcohol and sweat. The linen chest was thrown open and a pile of iodine-stained bedsheets lay on the table. Because the town's sole trained physician was otherwise disposed, Leah was attended by a pair of Tartar midwives who lived in a village nearby. Providence had brought them to the Cohens' doorstep at the moment they were needed most. They had read the signs, they said: a sea of horses, a conference of birds, the north star in alignment with the moon. It was a prophecy, they said, that their last king had given on his deathwatch, but there was no time to explain.”

• “Among Eleonora's earliest memories were the stories her father told sometimes after dinner. Climbing into his lap, she could feel the scratchy wool of his jacket against her arm. There was the crackle of the fire settling, the warm leather smell of the armchair, and Ruxandra darning in the corner.”

• “For the stones in the river of history look different depending on where you stand.”

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• With every choice, even the choice of inactivity, we must shut the door to a host of alternate futures. Each step we take along the path of fate represents a narrowing of potential, the death of a parallel world.

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• For the stones in the river of history look different depending on where you stand.

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• The string of fate pulled him through muck and brambles, hardship, tragedy, and countless sleepless nights. At times it seemed a pointless struggle, but when he arrived finally at the end of the line, then he understood that it was all necessary.

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• There is no sage wiser than the dictates of your own personal heart. Then she recalled the lines that followed: When you follow the ardent instructions of your heart, when you follow not the easy path nor the selfish path, but the path you knew all along was correct, you can only but do what’s right by the world.

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• look inside one’s own personal heart, determine what was right, and do it without regret.

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• “Luck affects everything. Let your hook always be cast. In the stream where you least expect it, there will be a fish.”

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• There is no sage wiser than the dictates of your own personal heart.

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• Why should I not decide myself how to feel? They are, after all, my feelings. If I want to cry some other time, I will cry some other time. I do not want to today.

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• General Krzab’s words to his wife on the nature of truth: A slippery fish, flashing scales in the water and a noble fighter on the line, but dull as lead at the bottom of the boat. It was true. As much as she admired the idea of truth from a distance, its practice left something to be desired.

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• Plato would seem to think she should. Truth is the beginning of every good to the gods, and of every good to man. Then again, there was Tertullian. Truth engenders hatred of truth. As soon as it appears it is the enemy.

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Constanta: Where the Cohen family live
• Stamboul: The seat of power in the Ottoman Empire
• Bosporus: The river that flows through Stamboul

First Sentence edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Michael David Lukas (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: 2010014810
• Dewey: 813.6

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Number One Novels: An interview with Michael David Lukas about his debut novel.

Books Cited by This Book edit see section history