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Leyla: The Black Tulip (2003)

by Alev Lytle Croutier(Favorite Author)

3.93 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1584858311 (ISBN13: 9781584858317)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

American Girl Publishing Inc

review 1: This book is a great way to present the history and culture of Turkey to children. Leyla is a 12 year old girl in 1720 who volunteers to marry a rich husband so that her struggling family can have money. Instead, she is sold as a slave to a representative of the Padishah, the emperor of Turkey. She becomes part of his harem and cares for the tulips in the private gardens. This book was part of the American Girl Series, "Girls of Many Lands." I am impressed with its educational value as well as its entertainment.
review 2: The 'Girls of Many Lands' series made such an impact on my imagination and deepened my love of history/thirst for knowledge. The story of Leyla began my obsession with Turkey. If I remember correctly she is technically Georgian because 11 o... morer 12 year old me was extremely confused as to how Georgia the state became a part of the Ottoman Empire. But Google set me straight. Looking back this book does a remarkable job of handling the dicey aspects of the this time in the Ottoman empire (for example eunuchs and the harem) in a way that I grasped their purpose but not the nitty gritty (for example the missing anatomical part of a eunuch). I'm not sure how historically accurate it is that Leyla was treated so nicely as a slave but I didn't/don't mind. It was fascinating to read about how valued tulips were, that people were so obsessed that they would do almost anything to get them. And to get this glimpse into Turkish life at the height of the Ottoman Empire. less

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