Birds Without Wings: A Novel [B2290]

2005 PB, clean with minor cover wear. In his first novel since Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernières creates a world, populates it with characters as real as our best friends, and launches it into the maelstrom of twentieth-century history. The setting is a small village in southwestern Anatolia in the waning years of the Ottoman Empire. Everyone there speaks Turkish, though they write it in Greek letters. It's a place that has room for a professional blasphemer; where a brokenhearted aga finds solace in the arms of a Circassian courtesan who isn't Circassian at all; where a beautiful Christian girl named Philothei is engaged to a Muslim boy named Ibrahim. But as the modern world intrudes, the twin scourges of religion and nationalism lead to forced marches and massacres, hunger grips the town and the peaceful fabric of life is destroyed. Epic, yet profoundly humane, Birds Without Wings is a glorious novel by one of our finest and best-loved novelists.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "An interesting read regarding the time of transition with the onset of world wars. It filled in many gaps in regards to world history. I found the human insight of the author wise, funny and heartbreaking."; "Birds Without Wings teaches you about historical events through the lives of ordinary people. This is a book full of humanity and lessons. It is one of those books I will always be tempted to go back to, because I feel there will always be something new to discover in it."; "An absolutely astounding book. Such good creative writing mixed with history. Mixing comedy with deep deep sadness, and beautifully horrifying descriptive writing, I felt like i could see some of the sh*t that the characters saw. I loved this book but it did take me a really long time to read. It's not a light read, but it is worth it."; "I read this many years ago but was reminded how good the book is when I went to visit that area of Turkey recently. A stunning historical novel both beautiful and tragic."