Architect's Apprentice The

Sixteenth century Istanbul a stowaway arrives in the city bearing an extraordinary gift for the Sultan. The boy is utterly alone in a foreign land with no worldly possessions to his name except Chota a rare white elephant destined for the palace menagerie.|Sixteenth century Istanbul a stowaway arrives in the city bearing an extraordinary gift for the Sultan. The boy is utterly alone in a foreign land with no worldly possessions to his name except Chota a rare white elephant destined for the palace m...|Elif Shafak is an award-winning British-Turkish novelist and the most widely read female author in Turkey. She writes in both Turkish and English and has published seventeen books eleven of which are novels. Her work has been translated into fifty languages. Shafak holds a PhD in political science and she has taught at various universities in Turkey the US and the UK including St Anne's College Oxford University where she is an honorary fellow. She is a member of World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Creative Economy and a founding member of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). An advocate for women's rights LGBT rights and freedom of speech Shafak is an inspiring public speaker and twice a TED global speaker each time receiving a standing ovation. Shafak contributes to many major publications around the world and she has been awarded the title of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres. In 2017 she was chosen by Politico as one of the twelve people who would make the world better. She has judged numerous literary prizes and is chairing the Wellcome Prize 2019. Find out more about Elif Shafak on her website: www.elifshafak.com|Elif Shafak is an award-winning British Turkish novelist whose work has been translated into fifty-five languages. The author of nineteen books twelve of which are novels she is a bestselling author in many countries around the world. Shafak's latest novel The Island of Missing Trees was a top ten Sunday Times bestseller a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick and was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award and the Women's Prize. Her previous novel 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the RSL Ondaatje Prize; longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award; and chosen as Blackwell's Book of the Year. She is a Vice-President of the Royal Society of Literature. Shafak was awarded the Halldór Laxness International Literature Prize for her contribution to 'the renewal of the art of storytelling.'|A gorgeous picture of a city teeming with secrets intrigue and romance|Exuberant epic and comic fantastical and realistic . . . like all good stories it conveys deeper meanings about human experience|Fascinating. A vigorous evocation of the Ottoman Empire at the height of its power|Intricate multi-layered resplendent vividly evoked beautifully written|Sumptuous absorbing moving