Children of War by Ahmet Yorulmaz @NeemTreePress #RandomThingsTour

I’m thrilled to take part in the blog tour for Children of War by Ahmet Yorulmaz, a noted Turkish journalist. Thanks to Anne Cater and Neem Tree Press for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Children of War by Ahmet Yorulmaz

Translated by Paula Darwish

Genre: Literary, Historical

Publisher: Neem Tree Press

Publication Date: March 26, 2020

About Children of War:

Hassanakis is a young Muslim boy of Turkish descent growing up on Crete during WWI. Fifteen generations of his family have lived on the island and until now he has never had any reason not to think he is a Cretan. But with the Great Powers tussling over the collapsing Ottoman Empire and the island’s Christians in rebellion, an outbreak of ethnic violence forces his family to flee to the Cretan city of Chania. He begins to lay down roots and his snappy dress earns him the nickname of Hassan ‘the mirror’. As WWI draws to a close and the Turkish War of Independence rages, he begins a heady romance with the elegant Hüsniye. There are rumours that the Cretan Muslims will be sent to Turkey but Hassanakis can’t believe he will be sent to a country whose language he barely knows and where he knows no-one.

This powerful novel drawn from the diary of a refugee family evokes the beauty, complexity and trauma of Crete’s past and weaves it into a moving tale of an ordinary man living through extraordinary times.

Based on 3 diaries left by a Cretan refugee in Ayvalik in Turkey, this novel by Ahmet Yorulmaz is the first of a trilogy. It is one of very few Turkish novels ever written about the population exchanges between Greece and Turkey in 1923, during which about 1.8 million people were ‘exchanged’ almost solely on the basis of their religion. This all but emptied the new Turkey of its Christian Greek population, which dated back to about 20 BC, and emptying Crete of its Muslim inhabitants. Most deportees did not speak the language of their new country and had no roots there whatsoever. (from publisher’s webpage)

My thoughts:

When Anne Cater requested reviewers for Children of War’s blog tour, I knew I had to read this book. Literary fiction isn’t always my favorite genre to read. But I knew very little about this historical episode and wanted to learn more.

This book dazzled and fascinated me. I felt as if Yorulmaz and I were sitting in a cafe, chatting over strong Turkish coffee. And then I fell silent, mesmerized as the old man recounted stories from his life, leisurely. He remembered certain details vividly and glossed over others, as if it had been decades since the events. And yet it felt as real as if it were happening now.

Now that Hassanakis is in Turkey, years away from the story’s events, he’s homesick. Even after all this time, he misses Crete. Yorulmaz created scenes so vivid that I could almost smell the chamomile, sage, and lime; hear his older brother’s twangs on the baglama; taste the foods he describes with loving, luscious details. He put me there and helped me feel his homesickness for the place he and generations before him called home.

Pace

The pace is slow but steady as the story unfolds, and a sense of foreboding haunts the novel. The threats to the Muslim Cretans are real; history tells us this, and old Hassanakis, too. After all, he’s writing from a place of exile.

Yet narrator Hassanakis captures the shock of his family when they learn they might have to leave Crete. They trust the Padishah Efendi (the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire) in Constantinople (Istanbul) to come to their rescue. Their innocence and naive devotion to the Sultan’s power is almost incomprehensible to me. But this was a different culture and time. News was sporadic (especially for those in rural places) and given word of mouth (thus unreliable). It was nothing like our 24/7 news cycle. (One can argue whether this makes us better off than they are.)

Characterization

The characters are vivid, too. Hassanakis’s father is an illiterate man. But he’s a reasonable one, a man who strives to live in harmony with his neighbors, both Muslim and Christian. He simply wants the violence to stop. Hassanakis is much like his father this way; he doesn’t see hatred and violence as a solution. In contrast, characters like Hassan, a.k.a., “Daggarlad” for his favorite dagger, want to fight back; the nickname alone signals this!

Darkness & Hope

There is a lot of darkness and heartbreak in this story. But there is also hope along the way. The well-read, thoughtful Greek printer who treats Hassanakis like a son. The imprisoned lieutenant who teaches Hassanakis the Turkish language, first in the Arabic alphabet, then in the Greek alphabet. His business partner, Marigo. Even Daggerlad, in his own way, provides hope to young Hassanakis by telling him the truth.

Timely

Do I really need to say why this book is timely? Powerful people make choices; ordinary people suffer as a result. People are forced back to a “homeland” where they do not know the language or culture. Racial and ethnic hatred inspires violence. Unfortunately, humans don’t learn their lessons, and we tend to repeat our ancestors’ mistakes–with tragic consequences.

This beautifully-written novella is the first in a trilogy. It ends a bit abruptly, but that’s not a bad thing. It only means I have to wait until the English translation is ready to learn what happens next!

About Ahmet Yorulmaz

Ahmet Yorulmaz was a Turkish a journalist, author and translator. He was born in Ayvalik to a family of Cretan Turks deported to mainland Turkey as part of the Greek/Turkish population exchange decreed in the Treaty of Lausanne. He was fluent in modern Greek and translated novels and poems from contemporary Greek literature to Turkish. Most of his original works were written with the aim of making people learn about Ayvalık, the city where he grew up. He dedicated himself to Greek-Turkish friendship and rapprochement. (from Neem Tree Press’s bio of Ahmet Yorulmaz)