Last Letter from Istanbul

by Lucy Foley

ISTANBUL, 1921

Before the Occupation, Nur’s city was a tapestry of treasures: the Grand Bazaar alive with colour, trinkets and spices; saffron sunsets melting into the black waters of the Bosphorus; the sweet fragrance of the fig trees dancing on the summer breeze . . .

Now the shadow of war hangs over the city, and Nur lives for the protection of a young boy with a terrible secret. Stumbling through the streets, carrying the embroideries that have become her livelihood, she avoids the gazes of the Allied soldiers. Survival is everything.

When Nur chances upon George Monroe, a medical officer in the British Army, it is easy to hate him. Yet the lines between enemy and friend grow fainter.

She and the boy would both be at risk. Nur knows that she cannot afford to fall – impossibly and dangerously – in love . . .

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Romance, Audiobook, Ebooks, Mystery

432 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 30, 2018

About the author

Hello and welcome to my Goodreads page! I’m the author of the murder mystery thrillers The Midnight Feast, The Paris Apartment, The Guest List and The Hunting Party — as well as the historical novels The Book of Lost and Found, The Invitation and Last Letter from Istanbul.

I came to writing through a love of reading — I previously worked with books as a fiction editor, a literary agent’s assistant, a bookseller and a literary scout!

Inspired by trips to the West Country and local folklore I began plotting my latest novel, The Midnight Feast. A midsummer heatwave, a setting with a past, a reunion that takes a dark turn. And so The Midnight Feast came to life.

Thanks to brilliant readers around the world, my novels have sold over five million copies, and been translated into multiple languages. I’m also a No 1 New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller. A life-long Agatha Christie fan, I also contributed to Marple, a collection of short stories featuring the legendary detective.

Follow me on social media at:

Instagram @lucyfoleyauthor
Facebook @LucyFoleyAuthor
Twitter/X @lucyfoleytweets

Reviews

[Margitte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story of Istanbul/Constantinople in 1921 during the Allied Occupation. A sad, but beautiful ode to the people who claimed it as their own, and those who occupied it after the war. It is about a young teacher who saved one of her Armenian pupils from genocide, took care of her elderly grandmother and mother, and learnt the hard truths of what war really was from all sides. She had to come to terms with some truths that was hard to stomach...and forgive.

The ending elevates this book to something serious and realistic. Yes, reality at its finest. The story nevertheless will capture the heart and mind of the historical fiction afficionados.

Lyrical prose takes the reader on this unbelievable journey of lesser-known history. The prose entice the reader into continuing: for instance, the birds swarming into the garden to feast on the pomegranates, are described as a carnival of sound, a choas of wings. Yet, one desciption had me a little baffled: the water is eloquent. The water talks, babbles, sings, tells a story? At least it made me think. I loved it though.

I enjoy this author's books so much, that I've read three of them in a short period of time. This was the second one and once again an excellent book. Historical fiction with an enticing love element thrown in to keep the romance junkies - or rather, historical romance junkies, close to the story. Lucy Foley writes women fiction. Her work is characterized by women's suffering and well developed male characters. The main theme of her books are the promotion of love without marriage, of single-women independence, without the bondage of marriage. Love is always challenging and relationships is never guaranteed a happy ending. What IS happiness after all, right?

I really LOVE this author's stories. The plots can be confusing at first, but the stories are solid, especially the endings. It's nearer to literature than just a light read, I would say, but accessible enough for anyone to dive in and discover more of the world we are living in.

Picturesque and atmospheric. Heartfelt and memorable. A very good read indeed. A must read, I would say.

[Pauline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Last Letter from Istanbul by Lucy Foley is a story about Constantinople in 1921 and the allied occupation. Nur a local woman who deeply mistrusts the occupiers is forced to ask for medical help for a boy she is looking after and enters into an uneasy alliance with the doctor who helps her. I found this book very hard to read because it jumps from narrators and in time. I did enjoy the description of the area and the people. I would like to thank NetGalley and HarperCollins for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 2018, Last Letter from Istanbul is Lucy Foley's third novel. It is a beautiful yet tragic love story told from five points of view.

Setting: Istanbul, 1921

Nun: A young widow caught up in the aftermath of war trying to take care of her ailing mother and grandmother. She finds an Armenian boy in a burned down building and takes him home to take care of him.

The Boy: He has lost everything but is rescued by a woman who vows to teach him her ways. Little by little, he improves until one day tragedy strikes, and the course of his life is changed forever.

George: A medical Scottish doctor who is working with the British Occupation to help the wounded. When a young woman brings her ailing child to him in the middle of the night, he cannot refuse, although he should. For they belong to the opposition. However, as time passes, the lines between enemy and friend grow fainter.

The Prisoner: After being captured and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp, the young man finally is released back home. However, wartime has changed this once gentle schoolteacher. He sees that the enemy has taken over his city and his childhood house. Anger and rage remain in his heart for all that he has lost. All that is left is revenge.

The Traveller: A young man is traveling back to his homeland after many years of being away. The city has changed, but he has one purpose in mind. He was sent on a special mission to visit the one woman who changed his life forever.

____________________________________________

This is an intricately woven story based on the occupation of Istanbul in 1918. It is a wonderful love story as well as a tragic tale of the effects of war. I loved it. 🧡

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

Foley has an exquisite talent for evoking the very essence of place and time; her delineation of setting is lyrical, eloquent and she uses it beautifully to illuminate a facet of history I was heretofore totally unaware of. But a story that should in theory have been compelling felt otherwise entirely aimless -Last Letter from Istanbul is a slow moving, meandering slog that never achieves anything. (Also, is the title an irrelevant nod to Last Letters from Stalingrad?)

To get to the crux of things, my main criticism is that there is very little by way of plot. Now, this alone does not necessarily present a problem, provided that the novel can offer an aspect to compensate. In this case, there was none. This is certainly not a character study; the characters lack emotional complexity or personality and are otherwise too numerous and indistinguishable to be memorable. The narrative is unengaging, repetitive, unnecessarily convoluted and saturated with exposition and filter words; such a relatively simple story shouldn’t take the wrong side of 500 pages to convey. The staccato style multiple perspective was, in my opinion, unnecessary. It hinders the momentum of the novel more than it extends its scope - none of the characters were ever given the opportunity to develop their own personal story fully. The result is a rather sterile and bloodless narrative that never matures into something even vaguely emotionally compelling - despite the harrowing events depicted.

Last Letter From Istanbul delivers little of what is promised by the synopsis, laudatory blurbs etc. This has been hailed as a “timeless love story” riddled with “haunting secrets”, and yet the ‘romance’ to me is achingly bland, simply because the two characters in question didn’t seem to connect on any sort of emotional level. The claim to romance is specious at best. As for the ‘secrets’, the mild twist for me was far too little too late.

Last Letter From Istanbul is another of those books that I persevered with, just to see whether it would ever improve. For me, it didn’t. The historical context is interesting, but I would have appreciated it more had Foley valued economy and clarity. Ultimately, the lengthy descriptions overpowered what little command the story itself held rather than complementing it.

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

couldn't really get into this book and bond with the characters

[Megan Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Istanbul, 1921. Each day Nur gazes across the waters of the Bosphorus to her childhood home, a grand white house, nestled on the opposite bank. The days of her happy memories are now dead. The house has been transformed into an army hospital, it is a prize of war in the hands of the British. As Nur weaves through the streets carrying the embroideries that have become her livelihood, Constantinople swarms with Allied soldiers, a reminder of how far she and her city have fallen. The most precious thing in Nur’s life is the orphan in her care – a boy with a terrible secret. When he falls dangerously ill Nur’s world becomes entwined with the enemy’s. Nur must return to where she grew up, and plead for help from Medical Officer George Monroe.
Well this is an incredibly boring read! I could have quite happily put this down and not finished it and I really do not think I would have minded. But persevere I did and I am not sure it was worth it. I will start with the positive, and that is Foley transports the reader to Constantinople, the streets and people come alive and I could really envisage it. Of course, Foley had a wondrous location to recreate and the scenery descriptions are about the only thing I liked of this book. Positive aside and I return to the plot, or the non-existent plot. Okay, there is a small plot but it is dealt with incredibly quickly and even then Foley had dragged it out longer than needed, there was no immediate pull for me into this book and I was never really gripped by anything or wanted to keep picking up the book. This really was a case of me forcing myself to finish it.
I do not really mind if a book has little plot as long as the characters are good and I can enjoy getting to know them and following their lives. Sadly the characters in this are really not developed. Some of the characters are not even named, Foley does have a good reason for this which becomes clear, but it meant I had no clue who they were, built no connection with them and quite frankly I got confused as to who each of them were. Then this brings me to Nur and George, ah named characters I thought, but no, I still did not get a clear picture of who they are, a little background is given at the end, and I mean right at the end, but it is too little too late. Disappointingly, the characters are just not developed and I could not root for them.
‘Last Letter From Istanbul’ just is not for me, the scenery is lovely and the history well explained but there was nothing to keep my interest or get excited about.

[Chrissie]

********

*Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities by Bettany Hughes 5 stars
*Portrait of a Turkish Family by Irfan Orga 5 stars
*Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernières 5 stars

[Mairead Hearne (swirlandthread.com) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Described as ‘an epic story that vividly captures the heartbreaking turmoil of forbidden love, against a richly drawn backdrop of a legendary city steeped in history and myth.’

Last Letter from Istanbul is a book that encouraged me to carry out a little bit of research, as the history of Turkey is something I know very little about. In 1921, Istanbul, as we now know it, was known as Constantinople, a city that has seen so many changes over the centuries, a city steeped in a history that carries with it the turmoil of a people. I recall watching a program that the wonderful Joanna Lumley presented, entitled ‘Joanna Lumley’s Greek Odyssey’ and in one episode she spoke with a man who recounted his memories from when the borders were set up between Greece and Turkey, when neighbourhoods were torn apart and where there was the forced mass migration of a ethnic culture. I shed tears as I watched that program, as the inhumanity of this time was so evident in this old man’s face. Beyond that I really had no idea of any of the historical details from that time. Reading Lucy Foley’s book, although a fictional tale, stirred my interest again in this era.

By 1921 the Allied soldiers had well established themselves in the city of Constantinople. The local inhabitants remained fearful with many also carrying a great hatred against these invaders. The Allies took over their homes and buildings, taking up residence in what were once the grand homes of Turkish traders and successful business people. For one inhabitant, Nur, this occupation, and the war leading up to it, has taken everything from her. Her gentle brother, a teacher, never returned home from fighting and is now presumed dead. Her mother is unable to cope since and struggles daily to deal with her loss. Nur now resides in cramped living conditions with her mother, grandmother and a young orphaned boy, who Nur has committed herself to looking after. Nur’s only little bit of pleasure is her very occasional, and very secret, visits to her old family home across the Bosphorus river.

Before the war Nur lived a happy and very comfortable existence in a beautiful mansion, a place where she had a wonderful upbringing with warm childhood memories. But following the war and the occupation of her beloved city, all that changed as her home fell under the authority of the British Army and was transformed into a hospital.

On one of these secret visits Nur is discovered by Dr George Monroe, a medical officer in the British army and to Nur, a sworn enemy. This is not to be their first encounter and as a reader we witness how their tentative but very delicate relationship develops over a period of time.

Last Letter from Istanbul has a number of stories running in parallel as we get different perspectives from five individuals - Nur, The Traveller, The Boy, The Prisoner and George. We experience the searing heat of an occupied Constantinople in 1921, but we are also transported back to the brutal elements of the Winter harshness of the Russian front. We witness the horrors of the Egyptian Desert with the relentless sun’s insufferable burning of it’s captors and we accompany a man, making his journey across Europe, back to a place that holds many, many memories.

The story of Nur and George, and all the other characters in this novel, are interwoven against the most spectacular backdrop of mysterious and far-flung locations. Lucy Foley writes such beautiful prose. Her descriptions are so very vivid. Last Letter from Istanbul is not a fast-paced page turner but a slow-burning tale of passion, secrets and lies. It is a book that encompasses the writings of many authors whose work I have admired, with the atmospheric visuals of a Victoria Hislop novel and the comparable writing, in one man’s story, that are reminiscent of a Paulo Coelho novel, to the brutal and graphic story that, for me was a reminder of Sebastian Faulk’s great novel, Birdsong.

Last Letter from Istanbul is a compelling and sweeping tale that crosses decades and takes the reader on a captivating journey through the tumultuous history of a nation that has struggled to maintain an identity, a nation that struggles to find peace.

Atmospheric. Evocative. Wistful

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many kinds of love! The love of a daughter and mother, a granddaughter and grandmother. A mother and child, even if the child isn’t her biological child. The love between siblings. Most captivating for me was the forbidden love between a man and a woman in a world that would never have allowed it. I highly recommend this moving story.

[Saarah Niña · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my final book of 2018, and the best read to end the year.

Pg 25 'Sometimes, now, the old life seems as remote as one read about in a book. But this afternoon it seems very close at hand, an assault of memory.'

We meet Nur, a young woman living in Constantinople- her beloved Istanbul- a city brutally overtaken by the Allied Forces. She yearns for the life she lost and is reminded daily of the changes: she sees the Allied soldiers laughing and taunting her fellow people. She is surrounded, consumed, by her justified bitterness. She knows the enemy, and judges those who refuse to see the truth, those who have accepted their great losses. But she also knows that in the face of these losses, she has tasted real freedom as well as great inequality.

Her liberation has come at a price. She is a teacher now and a child's guardian, she understands duty and responsibility. What then, when circumstances have her questioning her core values? What would her father have said? Or her little brother, who was forced to fight in his country's war? A sorrowful war changes a country forever- changes its people, can the trauma be reversed? Forgiven? Is there room for love in such a hateful sphere?

From beginning to end, this story had captured my heart. I felt broken at its end. This book will leave its mark on you: it's brave, heartbreakingly ordinary, and yet altogether timeless in its delicate exploration of a history that is not as lovely as you first think. Enjoy this: let yourself be swept away.

Lucy Foley writes with careful regard for her choice of words and it makes the story cautiously inviting. Her rich storytelling, the intricate weaving of character perspectives, but ultimately the belief and hope in humanity makes this a beautifully memorable story.

As a young Muslim woman myself, I felt a kinship with Nur. I understood her inner battle: rebel quietly or not at all? We shared similar values though I was brought up in a far more conservative and religious household. And yet, I had tasted indepemdence far earlier, I possessed the same self-confidence. But I, too, was aware of the limits my culture dictated, the expectations and I haven't always been permitted to do as I wish. I wonder, had she been raised as I was, would she have made the same choices?

I'm going to be recommending this book for a long time!

[Alex (ReadingBetweenTheNotes) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled a lot to get into this one. There were a LOT of perspectives and time jumps which made it difficult for me to get sucked into the story; I felt like it was darting around too much and I couldn’t focus.

I also found the tone of the book a little pretentious at times. I don’t know what it was exactly that bothered me; I think it was just trying too hard to be this piece of great literary fiction but it did not succeed. The writing got quite convoluted and irritating at times.

In terms of characters, I didn’t really feel like any of them were very fleshed out. I didn’t feel invested in their lives and found them all to be forgettable. I felt totally apathetic towards them all.

As for the plot, I was promised a sweeping historical romance but this was non-existent. I don’t know, maybe I went in with the wrong expectations but I thought there would be some level of intimacy between Nur and George. There was none. Not until the very end of the book was there a flicker of something but even then, there was no chemistry whatsoever.

So, sadly, I didn’t enjoy this book. I’d say I was fairly bored most of the time. Maybe it’s partly my own fault for expecting something of a romance but I also don’t think the book was marketed accurately. Though I’m still super grateful to the publishers for sending me a free copy and the accompanying gifts!

[Nosheen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

[Cat Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book

[Lou_Vanpee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will be thinking about this book for a very long time

[Joyb Animalcrackers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nur has been brought up as the cossetted daughter of a wealthy Turkish man. She is more accustomed to reaching for the next fig than struggling to survive as she must do following WW1. Instead of a return to normality the bungling allies carve the map and create years of future harm, in this case by occupying what they rename as Constantinople.
An unassuming, kind, Scottish doctor has volunteered to serve at the local military hospital. This is the basis for a love story and dance of keeping within decorous rules which are constantly changing. Nur had never worn a veil, but it is now considered a sign of respectability in a woman who encounters the occupying enemy – even when he does her less harm than her own family.
This is a breathtaking story which needs a lot of patience because of the silly fashion for breaking the continuity to keep it bite-sized, presumably for the perceived limited attention span of the reader. With four strands of narrative jumbled together one of which is over 40 years later than the others it is very frustrating. I just hope when the next fad comes along the book is reissued in a form more worthy of it. It is very good and the descriptions are really eloquent

[Lori · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just didn’t work for me. I love historical fiction. Especially about history that is not well known. I also really like multiple POV stories so you can see several facets of the same story. But I found myself pushing to keep going. The story was soooo slow! Could definitely have used some editing.
For the complex and touchy themes (atrocities of war, occupation, death, racism, gender, abandonment, aging) in this book, you would think it would evoke a lot of feeling in a reader. But I didn’t find I connected with any of the characters. And because I was not initially connected, I found I couldn’t really care about their plights.
I did like how you were not really sure of who some of the characters were.........” the traveller”, “the prisoner”.....and I liked the reveal near the end.
The book did gain a bit of momentum in the final chapters, but not enough to turn my opinion of the book around.
Foley can definitely write. There were some fantastic descriptive sentences in the book and some eloquent observations of the human predicament. Just not enough to sway me.
Emma Gregory did a fantastic job of narrating with the wide variety of accents, genders and ages.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being a fan of Victoria Hislop’s books I was looking forward to reading Last Letter from Istanbul by Lucy Foley.

Set in Constantinople in 1921, it tells the tale of a forbidden love between Nur and Medical Officer George Monroe. I started reading this on Sunday afternoon. It’s an easy read and I couldn’t put it down. It’s well written and so descriptive you could almost imagine yourself there tasting the local delicacies or feeling the breeze from the Bosphorus.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins UK and the author for the chance to review.

[Madeleine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel terrible giving only 2 stars (as I appreciate how much time and effort goes into writing), but unfortunately, in this case, I cannot bring myself to give any more.

The pace was very slow, there was a severe lack of character development (I felt like I didn't know anything about the characters and their thoughts and feelings did not feel authentic) and there were passages which were somewhat irrelevant to the plot.

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

So pleased to have won this book in a recent Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

Despite a slow beginning, i did enjoy reading this novel. I love wartime stories and whilst i rarely write what a story is about, it certainly pulled at my heartstrings. I highly recommend this book to all who enjoy a wartime story. Yet another author whose books i shall be watching out for!

[Georgia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really struggled to read this. It jumps around in time and to different narrators providing very little background on each and making it difficult to get into. There is also very little plot making it overall very dull. There’s some history at the end but it’s too little too late by this point. It was a chore to finish and a relief once it was over.

[Gala · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
Ok. Lucy Foley me tomó por sorpresa aquí.

Yo no sabía de qué trataba,sabía que era una historia de amor en una invasión después de la 1ra guerra y que era como de "amor prohibido".
Debo reconocer que yo tenía un poco de miedo de que me romantizaran la guerra o las ocupaciones de ciudades por parte de los ganadores de un conflicto; afortunadamente eso no pasó.

Es una lectura algo fuerte, está escrita muy bonito y tiene descripciones muy bellas de cosas comunes, pero eso no le quita el ambiente triste que inunda la historia. Te presentan las múltiples interrogantes de un conflicto: ¿Existen soldados buenos y malos dependiendo del lado en que luchen? ¿Quién la tiene más difícil,los soldados o los civiles? ¿Es mejor para los prisioneros de guerra volver a casa y vivir con lo que pasó o morir? ¿Alguien alguna vez se recupera realmente de la guerra?

Realmente no creo que esta historia sea considerada romance, de eso hay poco y el que hay poco dura.
El final fue muy agridulce y me dejó poco de felicidad.

[Linda Louch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow I have just finished this amazing book which I found hard to put down. What a very clever writer Lucy Foley is, painting a picture of Istanbul at the end of World War I and the history of the Ottoman Empire on the shores of the Bosphorus. Her description of the colours of the sky and the water, the sun on the buildings, the smell of the spices in the markets as a backdrop to the heartache, hardship and suffering of the time and the story of one woman and the care she gives to an orphan which means she must ask help from the enemy and a tobacco tin that would become very important.

[Alexandra Romaios · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though different than other books of Foley’s that I read before and kept me awake late at night reading, even though seemingly has very little in terms of plot and I started into the book by resolving to give it a 3 not to start the year with a bad book, I ended up loving it. Towards the end it becomes beautiful and you can enjoy what has beautifully been built throughout the book. As a historical fiction fan I also enjoyed learning about the Allied occupation in Istanbul.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doordat ik een tijdje niet gelezen had heel lang gedaan over deze historische roman dat zich afspeelt in Istanbul rondom de westerse bezetting. Eerste deel kwam ik heel moeilijk in door de verwarrende tijdssprongen en narratives, maar wellicht niet goed opgelet. Verder wel een heel mooi verhaal over historische gebeurtenissen waar ik zelf nog heel weinig vanaf wist. De laatste 100 paginas waren wel goed en het einde heel mooi.

[Gail Wylde · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book despite the slow start. The characters and the setting were brought to life with beautiful writing. This was my first Lucy Foley book but it won't be my last.
Thank you Netgalley for a lovely read.

[Berna · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was going so well until the last quarter of the book, then the timelines became such a chaos. But still a very good story which explores both sides of the war and the people involved in this occupation 👍🏻

[Tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Catherine Pinkett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some lovely writing in this. Really gave a look into British occupied Turkey just after the war. Slow burning plot which I felt could have been more concise

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. The last page had me in tears.
Writing was a little staccato for me, but still would highly recommend.

[Ursula Liechti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written story laced with history and hunan suffering. At the same time giving an inside to the G conflict of was and how quickly a friendship can turn to betrayal and gate. Loved it and the lesson I Kearney from it.