Last Letter from Istanbul

· HarperCollins · Narrated by Emma Gregory
3.5
2 reviews
Audiobook
10 hr 34 min
Unabridged
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About this audiobook

‘This will sweep you away for the summer. Lucy Foley blends a rich history, haunting secrets and a timeless love story’ Santa Montefiore, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Deverill series

1921

Each day Nur gazes across the waters of the Bosphorus to her childhood home, a grand white house, nestled on the opposite bank. Memories float on the breeze – the fragrance of the fig trees, the saffron sunsets of languid summer evenings. But now those days are dead.

The house has been transformed into an army hospital, it is a prize of war in the hands of the British. And 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 new 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. She must return to where she grew up, and plead for help from Medical Officer George Monroe.

As the lines between enemy and friend become fainter, a new danger emerges – something even more threatening than the lingering shadow of war.

Ratings and reviews

3.5
2 reviews
Sam Cox
8 February 2024
It's like being stuck inside the head of an overthinker. I was hoping I'd really enjoy this book as I have really enoyed all of the author's murder mystery books before. Unfortunately this wasn't to be the case. I was impressed with the background knowledge laid out to do with the time period and the customs in that part of the world, but that's where my enjoyment of this book ends. This book is best described as a love story and a sad one at that. Every thought by the main characters in this book is announced to you and then explained in context of the immediate situation, and sometimes the past too. At first this is quite interesting but it quickly just becomes sadly tiresome. On top of this it's sadly anticlimactic. Perhaps more realistic in this respect but many readers will be disappointed as they will have picked up this book as an escape and won't be satisfied with the story trawling along and eventually just disappointingly peatering out following it's predictable timeline.
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About the author

Lucy Foley studied English Literature at Durham and UCL universities. She then worked for several years as a fiction editor in the publishing industry – during which time she wrote her debut novel, The Book of Lost and Found. Lucy now writes full-time. During the year she divides her time between the UK and the Middle East – much of this novel was written in a garden in Tehran! – as well as travelling around the world for research and inspiration . She is currently working on her next book.

Visit her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/LucyFoleyAuthor and follow her on Twitter @lucyfoleytweets

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