Louis de Bernieres - Birds Without Wings

Pros: Excellent opportunity to read quality novel and learn history.

Cons: None.

The Bottom Line: Highly recommend the book: great writing, fact fiction blended elegantly and cleverly. See Remarks in review.

Review: This book was lent to me by a friend who liked it and recommended I read it. It is a long book over 350 pages. I am not a fast reader, especially if the book is boring. So the number of pages might intimidate a reader like me. But let me tell you a few ...

Pros: large cast of memorable characters; involving relationships; distinctive writing style

Cons: chapters on historical background somewhat dry and heavy-handed; protracted ending; significant time investment required

The Bottom Line: The lives of inhabitants of a small, remote Turkish town are irrevocably changed as the world plunges into WWI and neighbours, friends and lovers are torn apart.

Review: The little Anatolian town of Eskibahce at the turn of the 20th century is home to an eclectic group of people—the local Muslim Ottomans who learn the Koran without understanding Arabic, Greek Christians who have lived in Turkey for so many ...