Anatolian Days and Nights: A Love Affair with Turkey, Land of Dervishes, Goddesses, and Saints

by Joy Stocke, Angie Brenner

A chronicle of two women’s travels through turkey

When Joy Stocke and Angie Brenner meet on the balcony of a guesthouse in a small resort town on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, they think they have only a mutual friend and a summer dream in common. Soon, they discover a shared love of travel, history, culture, cuisine, and literature; and they begin a ten-year odyssey through Turkey.

Inspired by the poetry of thirteenth-century mystic Jelaluddin Rumi, Brenner and Stocke journey to central Turkey for the Whirling Dervishes Festival. A visit to a Turkish bath becomes a lesson in sensuality and patience. Their interest in the cults of the mother goddess takes them to Ephesus, the Black Sea, and east into Mesopotamia. Through intuition, experience, and a bit of serendipity, Brenner and Stocke find excitement, friendship, and love, and learn how and why Turkey—a country that holds the keys to Western Civilization—continues to grow in world importance.

Travel writing with literary value, Anatolian Days and Nights will appeal to armchair travelers as well as those about to hit the road.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Memoir, Contemporary, Womens

267 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 16, 2012

About the author

Joy E. Stocke has been traveling to and writing about Turkey and the eastern Aegean since 1982. Her quest to discover the roots of Western religion has brought her to all of Turkey's borders. She is the author of a novel, Ugly Cookies, and a collection of bilingual poems (English/Greek), The Cave of the Bear, based on her travels in Crete.

Along the way, Stocke has mastered the recipes and foundations of cooking in the Eastern Aegean region from Greece through Turkey to the Black Sea and the Persian Border. Her latest book, "Tree of Life: Turkish Home Cooking" is her, and writing partner Angie Brenner's, interpretation of some of the best recipes the region has to offer as well as their original takes on classics.

Founder and editor-in-chief of the online magazine Wild River Review, Stocke is a Lindisfarne Association fellow and serves on the board of the Princeton Middle East Society. She lives in Stockton, New Jersey.

Reviews

[Blue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks Goodreads First Reads giveaways for a copy of this book.

When I picked up this book, I was worried that it was going to be either the unrealistic, romanticized view of Turkey by foreign women or a comparison piece, where Turkey is compared to the East and West relentlessly. Instead, Stocke and Brenner tell a frank, entertaining, and informative story of their many visits and their developing relationship with the country, its culture, and its people. This is not to say that they are unbiased, because from the very beginning it is clear to them and to the reader that they really like Turkey. They seem to be very open minded, have a high tolerance for hairy, macho Turkish men, and a knack for meeting the right people at the right time. But most of their adventures are experiences foreigners can and do have in Turkey, a country full of people who love to talk, feed, entertain, and host. The book and their travels captures a part of the immense cultural and historical legacy of Anatolia, the place where there are more ruins per kilometer square than anywhere else in Europe.

As a child, I lived in Asia and went to school in Europe, crossing the bridge twice a day. And most Turks experience this all their lives, literally and metaphorically. Interestingly, the authors experience this in their own way, wishing to be able to live in America and in Turkey, for them in the West and in the East, or at least this part of the East that is much friendlier than many other parts to independent, free women.

As a Turk who grew up with official history, I never learned much about the Christians who live in Turkey or the god of moon, Sin, or the goddess with the fishtail. I was also reminded of some interesting things about Turkey, like that the first Christian church is in Antakya, where we used to go for vacation when I was a baby.

Turkey is an unconventional beauty, waiting for someone to recognize just how special, strange, and unexpected it really is. Stocke and Brenner have done just that in their book.

[Lilisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed traveling along with the authors across Turkiye - their love of travel, curiosity, history and the people was well captured. I thought they did a great job sharing their everyday experiences and pointing out the nuances in customs, norms, and food in different parts of the country. Having visited the country, I smiled at some references, and unconsciously nodded at others. I appreciated that there were many historical references that help readers better understand the melting pot that is Turkiye today. I am surprised though that there weren’t more references to the Ottoman Empire, which was in existence for about 600 years. I especially enjoyed the section about the eastern part of the country - Van, Mt. Ararat, Antakya, and Daphne. The inexplicable pull of the country on them is palpable - I understand it, I feel it too. As I write this review, Turkiye’s current inflation rate is the highest it’s been in 24 years causing significant challenges and hardship - I hope things improve soon. I wonder if the authors have travelled there recently and if yes, would love to read a sequel to their adventures!

[Jan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was expecting to fall in love with Turkey while reading this book. But the writing did not appeal to me and often got the way of achieving that outcome. I never really got a sense from these two women’s experiences what wonders this country holds for those who visit it. Over and over again, I’d think it was going to pick up when the author shared a bit of history that sparked my interest and I thought – here is what I was hoping for. But then the narrative would somehow fall flat or the subject matter would switch gears and become completely superficial. The places they visited were so different and exotic but I was not able to experience this from the writing. Instead I had my own little travel adventure by visiting each place online and was blown away by how much beauty and history can be found in this large country.

I was impressed by how they portrayed the friendliness and hospitality of the people. I was amazed by how often they were invited into someone’s home to share a meal. Though I admit that I got a little weary hearing about their various dancing, drinking and flirting episodes.

All in all the book seemed disjointed to me and I was left disappointed and unsatisfied. I will have to look elsewhere if I want to find myself captured in writing by all Turkey has to offer.

[Ricardo Ribeiro · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly boring. The only chapter catching my attention was the one in Van. Otherwise the prose didn't appeal to me. Too many times I felt like reading a girlie book. And the male writing this is one of the biggest fans of Sex and the City and usual spectator of all those films labeled as "for the girls". But with this book I often felt excluded, like... the authors are writing to girls, not to me. This was just one of the reasons I didn't like the book though. Overall I found nothing entertaining or instructive. I read the book as part of my preparation for a a month of travel in Turkey and apart from the mentioned Van chapter, nowhere in the book I managed to collect ideas or anything worth of a note.

[Annette Lyttle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book doesn't seem to have a point, other than "we went here, we went there, we met some people, we liked some of it, some of it was weird." I had little more sense of Turkey when I'd finished than I did when I started, which is too bad because I really wanted to learn about Turkey. Neither writer had a recognizable voice, so it was hard to remember who was writing which chapter, unless there was sex involved, in which case I knew it was the unmarried one.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this immensely. I loved that it ran over such a time period and that it managed to incorporate both voices so well. I so want to go to Turkey and although Anatolia had never been on my list before, it is now.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been slow doing this review because this book is special and is not one to be rushed nor fully appreciated in one reading. I could tell that when I first started it. This truly is a love affair between two women and a certain land. That land is not just a place but a feeling; a culture; a people of past countless souls; yet all blended into the present moment. I have always been intrigued with Turkey and have it on my list for this year. I was on a ship headed there ten years ago but the war rerouted me. This book is well written with a depth that goes beyond memoirs of travel. These two women have traveled into the soul of the land and that is something you don't find in the normal book on a particular land. For instance, "Her eyes seek mine, as if to say "Let's leave the men here. Let's talk about our lives as women." With a glance over her shoulder, she gives us a fleeting smile." Now that is getting into the heart of a people not just a political entity and a lot of historical ruins. It is touching lives in a way you and I will probably never see.

Or after climbing into a deserted place they see "a girl standing in a grove of olive trees" gathering "olives that have fallen to the ground and studies us, two women in sun glasses, tank tops, shorts and hiking boots. Gravely, she places a handful of the bitter, green fruit on a stone ledge, an offering. And darts away."

But as lovely and peaceful as they paint the picture of Turkey there are moments. When on a picnic and as "curfew approaches". A tank stops and four soldiers get out with "AK-47's in hand." One "his rifle site levels in our direction." "My back twitches, anticipating the sting of a bullet. Blood beats in my eardrums....." They demand passports and inspect Polaroid photos spread around. "'I told him they are just tourist photographs and the you are not spies,' says Basir." The three soldiers slightly loosen their grips on their rifles." as the girls offer to shoot photos of them they can send home to their girl friends. "Whatever fear Angie might feel, I see none of it in her actions as the soldiers take turns posing for their portraits, straightening their backs and positioning their rifles across their chests....."

Maybe I'll revise this review after I have had time to just find a quiet place and reread this wonderful adventure in real life in a fascinating land buy two girls who love the real heart of a land. Maybe I'll need to read it several times, a people and place most of us will never visit, and even if we do it will never be with such abandonment and depth into a people as they share in this book. You can actually feel the spirit of this place called Turkey.

This really is an unusual book and one everyone can relate to regardless of your travel interests. It is one you must read for yourself since a review will never do it justice. This is truly an insight into a people which seems such a mystery to most of us. And it is a fun adventure of two girls truly in love with life, with people, and with Turkey.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have dreams of traveling to far off places. But lacking a passport and the funds I do my traveling through reading. And this was a nice book to read, although I didn't quite get the vision of Turkey like I had hoped.

Joy Stocke and Angie Brenner meet when they agree to help a friend with a pension (bed & breakfast) she has bought in Turkey. Arriving though, they find the place in deplorable shape and their help no where to be found. After trying to make it work they decide to move on, but by this time have become friends and decide to do their travels around Turkey together. Meeting the local people and seeing some of the historical sites, they come back year after year, to look at different places in Turkey and meet up with old friends (and new!).

I really enjoyed the people that Stocke and Brenner encountered in this book. It's told from their perspectives (and the start of each chapter lets you know who's narrating) and through them we get to become seduced by Turkish men, filled with the warmth of Turkish women's hospitality and all the other emotions that people can evoke in each other. Sure they come across a couple of sleazy people, but there is good and bad in every country in the world. And the two narrators are nice people so they seem to make friends easily. Although I do kind of wonder whatever happens to their mutual friend Wendy from the beginning. Not a lot of explanation is given about her silence in regards to the pension. I do have to say the people were nothing like I had expected. They all seemed to be pretty carefree and hospitable. Either the ladies had good luck in meeting people or they left the majority of the nasty ones out of this book.

I think the first half of the book is the best. There's a lot more description and a lot more of them interacting with the people they meet in the book. The second half combines a lot of trips and they're always on the move and it just feels a little rushed. I do have to say that all of the book had great descriptions of food. It was all I could do not to go look at flights to Turkey just so I could go over and gorge myself on the delicious dishes mentioned in the book. Ok, actually I did look, but just out of curiosity. They were just that good at describing the food. On the scenery though, I had more trouble picturing that in my head. Maybe it's because I picture Turkey as more of a desert country, like Iraq, but I just wasn't getting the images the ladies were trying to describe.

This book made me want to visit Turkey. Sure it wouldn't have taken much for me to want to go, but I think they did a good job of explaining why this book is sub-titled "a love affair". They definitely were able to write and convince me that they loved Turkey.

Anatolian Days & Nights
Copyright 2012
242 pages

Review by M. Reynard 2013

More of my reviews can be found at www.ifithaswords.blogspot.com

[Amy Softa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was an enjoyable read for me, and probably meant more to me than to someone who has never been to Turkey. You can tell these ladies loved Turkey and they did a good job of showing the good along with the bad of Turkish Culture. Turkey and Turks are not perfect, but the country is what it is, a clash of old and new, east and west, and is a wonderful place to fall in love with...if you can accept its good along with its bad. You also need to remember that the Turkish Republic is itself a young country, still under 100 years. In those 100 years the world, society, and technology has changed a lot and in my opinion Turkey has handled it all remarkably well. It truly is a shining example of what a country from this part of the world that, while secular in governing, is an Islamic country. They should be proud of what they have accomplished as they continue to grow and figure out how the past and future have a place within its boarders. This book made me long for Turkey as I have now discovered places that I now want to visit and see for myself. The authors have reaffirmed, thou, my decision that I never want to experience a Turkish bath.

[Marcel Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

It has potential but......... it just never takes off. I was looking forward to the Lycian chapters until reading them. These chapters set the general tone of the book and the disappointment that followed. I've spent a fair amount of time in Turkey mostly hiking my way through Lycia and not once does the book dive into this rich cultural and historical region to reveal it (as the cover suggests that it might), but rather focuses on drinks in bars and playing footsie with the locals. This book is at best superficial though I did pick up the odd interesting fact here and there hence the two stars and I also do see the potential of these writers if only they would delve a little deeper and get off the expat merry go round.........

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. Not only a great travel book but a lesson in history, religion and relationships. I felt like I traveled right along with them. A great experience, one that I will probably never get to experience in person but at least I could ride along with Joy and Angie. They left some of the mystery of Turkey with me. Enough so, that I want to read more and more. Thank you for the book I won. First class.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book for anyone wanting to learn more about Turkey, without being dull. I loved the personal narratives within this book, fused with history and culture. Very well written.

[Linda Caldwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit frivolous and superficial....

[Abu Raihan Khalid · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good description.

Unfortunately, the writers often provided too much details, the vivid description of the molestation of the naked body of a little girl in a Hammam (public bathhouse) was not only unnecessary, but also offensive.

I was particularly looking for information on the Dervishes, Goddesses and Saints as promised in the title. But the writers merely attended a public function of the Dervishes and that was almost all there was on dervishes. There was no personal contact with any.

Same on the Goddesses, some description on the Mood God of the ancient Turkey was beneficial for me, but little else.

I thank the writers for that. But had to suffer a lot of description of male sexual attractiveness for that, I must admit.

Those sexual descriptions are the principal weakness of the work.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. I am not quite sure what it was trying to be.

I think a lot of readers might be put off by the amount of autobiographical details of the various love affairs of the two authors - although equally well, perhaps this may be a pull to other readers, and frankly, as a woman who has also spent large amounts of time in Turkey, male attention does seem to be an unavoiable part of travelling around as a woman. However, the flip side of this was that the various Turkish people the authors introduced helped make the book feel more authentic, especially when we learned about the views and local histories through the mouths of these characters.

One of the highlights of the book for me was the various historical and mythological details peppered throughout, but these almost seemed to not fit with the rest of the book, which was much more memoir like.

I feel I should have loved this book - it crosses so many of my interests - Turkey, history, mythology and goddesses, but it just didn't quite do it for me. I definitely learned some interesting new things, and the book was great as a spring board for introducing me to new aspects of Anatolian history that I then further researched myself, but the pace of the book seemed at times slow - bogged down with conversations and logistics of travelling, and at other times rushed when only a few lines were dedicated to a fairly unknown piece of history, or Turkish person that they met with.

[Kristina Moses · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found it difficult to finish this book as it became just a book of describing the places they went. The first part drew me in when they talk about their car breaking down, and the pension that their friend was going to turn into a hotel but left to ruins. However after that it lost the sense of a story as it became merely descriptive.

[Edison G.S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartwarming

I am planning a trip to Turkey soon and wanted to find a read that detailed what its like to immerse yourself in Turkish culture. This book goes in detail about how are people in Turkey, their traditions, their beliefs etc. And at the same time it has a story of pure love for a nation by the authors

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starts off lacking any atmosphere but ends up immersing the reader in a somewhat tense, mystical and alluring series of landscapes, characters and beverages.

[Claire Binkley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn't access the computer for a while, so I just kept reading this travelogue until it ended.

The good things about it are that it helped me start to learn Turkish (merhaba! *wavewavewave* But also this book referred to stuff like rakı which I should only sip, like maotai or vodka, though I think the two liquors I named are a bit stronger), was quick and easy, and gave me sort of a cultural overview from the viewpoint of two American tourists.
I also really like the pronunciation guide at the beginning.

The bad things about it are that I lost it last week so it badly upset me (I never lose books for that long!), strangers are scary, and many cultural facets slip American radar, so to speak, so I think it doesn't explain why people act like that well.
This book does not address Turkish history much. In my opinion, before travelling anywhere much research is required to not only better appreciate what's there but also to understand the other culture below face value.

Bir varmış, bir yokmuş... Maybe it happened, maybe it didn't. (Relevant proverb, maybe)

[C-shaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, well-written, real-life adventure of two women traveling around Turkey.

* * * * *
Later: Well, I really liked the first 2/3 of this book, which had some good quotations, simple Turkish words to learn, and intriguing scenarios. The two chicks who wrote it went back to the States, then returned for another trip, dividing the book between the two trip adventures. The second part was pretty dull, mostly about them visiting old friends, drinking and waxing wishy-washy. I downgraded my initial rating from four stars to three.

[Magda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know. Too superficial? Too much historical information pressed into what should have been spontanious conversations. It did not feel genuine because of that. Showing off there historical knowlegde of Turkey did not convince me at all of there love for the country. I still think they are a bit naïeve. And that bothered me reading it. What should have been a personal book still feels like a school assignement. I was dissapointed... I like turkey a lot. And i know some more About it's rich history. That's Nice.

[Suki_Elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently traveled to Turkey and found the adventures in this book (places visited, cultural experience) to be spot on! There is also a good chunk of history and general information about regions and historical events that would have been helpful to read prior to the trip. However, the storyline does feel disorganized as it is broken up into several characters. I am not sure this is necessary. Yet, Overall, I do think this is a Good Read before traveling to this rich, historical and amazing country/

[Venitra DeGraffenreid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Made me Homesick

Okay, I may be,a bit biased due to the fact that I lived in Turkey for a bit, and it has completely changed my life forever, but this book is so lovely. It shows the generosity of the peoples of Turkey, the tensions and fears without getting judgemental and bitter, and the writing is beautifully written. How many times did I slip into my own memories while reading this book? I also liked that they talked about the forbidden topics of honor killings and the Armenian genocide. I,would love to go back to Turkey with Angie and Joy!

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book started much stronger than it finished (for me), but I loved it nonetheless. The details were so evocative, I could almost imagine I was there. I'm a fan of travel writing already, and this was definitely one of the best of the genre.

I've definitely added a new destination to my map for the future.

[Jennifer Sturmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Agreed: "Interesting, well-written, real-life adventure of two women traveling around Turkey."
"Turkey is an unconventional beauty, waiting for someone to recognize just how special, strange, and unexpected it really is. Stocke and Brenner have done just that in their book."

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ok travelog that makes you interested to experience Turkey for yourself, but not memorable enough to make you feel like you there if you never were.

[Jenni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marvelous evocative prose.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable look at Turkish culture from the eyes of two young women looking for adventure.

[Kelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the historical, cultural, and travelogue sections of the book but could have done without all the drama!

[Kari · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately boring. I was hoping to fall in love with Turkey while reading this book, that sadly did not happen.