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August Thomas
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August Thomas
Hi Samuel,
I'm sorry - I don't know how I missed your question! Almost all of the locations are real, but a couple (like the Okyanus Salon and the monastery) are fictionalized amalgams of real places, l. If you're curious, here are two of the monasteries I visited which helped inspire the one in the book:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mor_Gab...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mor_Han...
If you're curious what Turkey's actual presidential palace looks like, the Guardian has some striking photos:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/gal...
Thanks for asking! :)
August
I'm sorry - I don't know how I missed your question! Almost all of the locations are real, but a couple (like the Okyanus Salon and the monastery) are fictionalized amalgams of real places, l. If you're curious, here are two of the monasteries I visited which helped inspire the one in the book:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mor_Gab...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mor_Han...
If you're curious what Turkey's actual presidential palace looks like, the Guardian has some striking photos:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/gal...
Thanks for asking! :)
August
August Thomas
This answer contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)[Hi Samuel,
Thanks your note! I'm so glad you enjoyed Liar's Candle. I love Hitchcock movies - The Lady Vanishes is one of my favorite films of all time - so I'm delighted if Liar's Candle struck that kind of chord with you. Good question about Melek. She was definitely one of my favorites to write. I don't really build characters from concepts, but I knew I wanted to write an intelligent, complex female Muslim character who was sincerely religious but not defined by her religious identity. I also *SPOILER* thought it would be interesting to consider what, besides the usual money/ideology/coercion/ego might motivate a principled person like Melek to spy for a foreign intelligence service. Paradoxically, Melek is so loyal to her father, she's willing to spy on him for the CIA to save him from the consequences of his own bad policies. (hide spoiler)]
Thanks your note! I'm so glad you enjoyed Liar's Candle. I love Hitchcock movies - The Lady Vanishes is one of my favorite films of all time - so I'm delighted if Liar's Candle struck that kind of chord with you. Good question about Melek. She was definitely one of my favorites to write. I don't really build characters from concepts, but I knew I wanted to write an intelligent, complex female Muslim character who was sincerely religious but not defined by her religious identity. I also *SPOILER* thought it would be interesting to consider what, besides the usual money/ideology/coercion/ego might motivate a principled person like Melek to spy for a foreign intelligence service. Paradoxically, Melek is so loyal to her father, she's willing to spy on him for the CIA to save him from the consequences of his own bad policies. (hide spoiler)]
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