Scholarly eighteen-year-old Paula and her merchant father journey from Transylvania to Istanbul to buy an ancient pagan artifact rumored to be charmed, but others, including a handsome Portuguese pirate and an envoy from the magical Wildwood, want to acquire the item, as well.
Chronicles the history of Istanbul, a city that straddles the border between Asia and Europe, presents a tour of the city's attractions, and considers the question of whether pollution-causing tankers should be allowed to travel through the Bosporus, the strait that divides the city.
Presents a short study of the history and culture of Istanbul, and describes the Byzantine period, the Crusades, and the Ottoman Empire, how the people of Turkey live, work, and play, education, and more.
Fifteen-year-old Meryem refuses to hang herself after being raped by her uncle, and is sent to Istanbul with her cousin Cemal, an army commando, who has been charged with killing Meryem to save the family honor, but the young people are shocked by the liberal atmosphere of the city, and their lives are changed forever when they are offered jobs aboard the boat of a wealthy professor preparing to sail the Aegean Sea.
