THE ARCHITECTS APPRENTICE PB B FORMAT

A dazzling and intricate tale from Elif Shafak, Booker-shortlisted author of 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World – chosen for the Duchess of Cornwall s online book club The Reading Room There were six of us: the master, the apprentices and the white elephant. We built everything together… Sixteenth century Istanbul: a stowaway arrives in the city bearing an extraordinary gift for the Sultan. The boy is utterly alone in a foreign land, with no worldly possessions to his name except Chota, a rare white elephant destined for the palace menagerie. So begins an epic adventure that will see young Jahan rise from lowly origins to the highest ranks of the Sultan s court. Along the way he will meet deceitful courtiers and false friends, gypsies, animal tamers, and the beautiful, mischievous Princess Mihrimah. He will journey on Chota s back to the furthest corners of the Sultan s kingdom and back again. And one day he will catch the eye of the royal architect, Sinan, a chance encounter destined to change Jahan s fortunes forever. Filled with all the colour of the Ottoman Empire, when Istanbul was the teeming centre of civilisation, The Architect s Apprentice is a magical, sweeping tale of one boy and his elephant caught up in a world of wonder and danger. A gorgeous picture of a city teeming with secrets, intrigue and romance The Times Exuberant, epic and comic, fantastical and realistic . . . like all good stories it conveys deeper meanings about human experience Financial Times Fascinating. A vigorous evocation of the Ottoman Empire at the height of its power Sunday Times Intricate, multi-layered, resplendent, vividly evoked, beautifully written Observer *Elif Shafak s latest novel The Island of Missing Trees is available now*