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Seven Houses, the new novel by Alev Lytle Croutier

A sweeping generational saga set against the backdrop of twentieth century Turkey, Alev Lytle Croutier's Seven Houses (Atria Books; September 24, 2002; $24.00) is an elegant, often heart-breaking story of beauty, love, loss and the fragile bonds that hold families together. From the last days of the Ottoman monarchy to the country's transformation into a republic, Seven Houses chronicles the fortunes of the _pekçi silk-making family, their tragedies and triumphs, their secrets and sacrifices. Filled with exotic, resonant imagery, Croutier brings the story of the _pekçi family to life with an artist's deft touch. Narrated by the omniscient voices of the homes the family occupies throughout four generations, Seven Houses traces the family's rising and falling fortunes ­ from the untold wealth and luxury of the _pekçi silk plantation to a modern, cramped high-rise apartment to the Victorian home that endures the test of time. The walls have eyes and ears, storing memories, dreams, spirits and secrets; the houses observe with a morality of their own, silently passing judgment.

Seven Houses follows the journey of Amber _pekçi, returning to Turkey with her American-born daughter after a long, self-imposed exile. Revisiting the homes that her family has occupied for generations, Amber is reunited with the people who inhabit them, in memory and in actuality. There is Amber's grandmother, Esma, the young widow whose secret, forbidden love affair would haunt her the rest of her days; stubborn and feisty Camilla, Amber's mother and wife of Esma¹s son Cadri; Aida, whose celebrated beauty would bring pain as well as pleasure; and Amber, whose innocent, sheltered childhood on the plantation is brought to an abrupt end, altering her life forever. It is Amber's return to her birthplace that brings the novel full circle. As Amber retraces the nomadic movements of her family throughout the country and the century, Croutier weaves an engrossing tale that demonstrates how much can be sacrificed to maintain appearances, protect a family's name and prevent the truth from being revealed.

Like a veil, beauty and propriety mask what lies beneath the surface, and concealing the truth can have dire, lasting consequences. As Turkey is transformed from a monarchy to a democratic republic with new freedoms and equality for women, the characters struggle between the forces of their past and the encroaching Western world that is their future. Beautifully, lyrically written, Seven Houses explores the nature of fate, the cost of beauty and the power of forgiveness. Seamlessly blending history with a fully realized fictional world, Alev Lytle Croutier has created a sensuous and enchanting novel that readers will not soon forget.

—press release from Atria Books/Simon & Schuster

Biography of Alev Lytle Croutier

Alev Lytle Croutier is the internationally acclaimed author of two nonfiction books, Harem: The World Behind the Veil and Taking the Waters, as well as the novel The Palace of Tears. Her work has been translated into more than twenty languages and published worldwide. Croutier was the founding editor and the editor-in-chief of Mercury House publishing company. She has written and directed independent films internationally and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship (the first ever for a screenplay) for "Tell Me A Riddle" based on the novella by Tillie Olsen. Born and raised in Turkey, Croutier now lives in San Francisco and Paris. Croutier was the commentator of the Canadian Film Board series "The Powder Room" BBC's "Mozart in Turkey," and BBC Channel 4 "The Reign of Women.' Her work has appeared in both literary and mainstream magazines (Art & Antiques, Harper's, London Telegraph, Gourmet, Focus, Zyzzyva, etc.), as well as anthologies such as Roots and Branches, Istanbul, I Should Have Stayed Home and Window into the Meditteranean.

Praise for Seven Houses

"Stately, elegant, full of mystery and color. The writing is beautiful. I could hardly contain myself at some of the resonances. I love the sensuousness of the language. Every flower has a scent. Every fruit I want to bite. I know there will be many people who will enjoy this book. It is a substantial gift." —Alice Walker,

'Spun like an intricate tapestry, Seven Houses brings us from the steamy harem bathhouses of the Ottoman era through the war-torn decades of Turkey¹s emerging democracy, as four generations of fascinating women struggle out of their own complex past‹like a silkworm frozen in the amber‹toward the uncertain future." —Katherine Neville,

For more about Alev Lytle Croutier, join us Thursday, Sept. 26, 8 pm, at Levantine Cultural Center—see our Calendar for detailsThis even supported by the American Turkish Association of Southern California (ATA-SC).