Being a Witch, and Other Things I Didn't Ask For discussion

The front matter note called Constantinople or Istanbul explains why Ottoman characters say Istanbul during the seventeenth century. How does that choice prepare you for the book’s later contrast between England’s witch trials and the life Raya finds in Istanbul, without giving away any plot. See Notes for the Second Edition.

Yes, the front matter on ‘Istanbul, not Constantinople’ readies you for the heady contrast between the Christian country of 17th century England, where people were being condemned to death for being a witch when their neighbour's pig died, and what was one of, if not the most diverse, forward-thinking and sophisticated cities in the world at that time, Istanbul. Whereas only land-owning men had any rights in England then, women in the Ottoman Empire could own businesses and property ‘without male interference’, bring lawsuits, and live and travel independently if they so chose. Quite a number of European women in abusive marriages and other bad situations fled to Istanbul, where they could have an agency over their own lives unheard of in other European countries. Eric Dursteler’s book, Renegade Women: Gender, Identity, and Boundaries in the Early Modern Mediterranean, is a fascinating window into this history, I highly recommend it! Renegade Women: Gender, Identity, and Boundaries in the Early Modern Mediterranean