Tales from the Expat Harem, edited by Anastasia Ashman and Jennifer Eaton Gokmen (Seal Press, 2006)
Follow the journeys of 29 women as they discover Turkey and its people in this collection of stories designed to reveal a culture often veiled in mystery and mystique. A 30-year-old African American encounters a lust-filled dating scene in Istanbul; a shy English teacher confronts her self-image in a 13th-century bathhouse; an Iowan evangelist is changed by the very Turkish souls she hoped to convert. The beauty of Tales is that each story paints Turkey as the narrator experiences it, and, together, the stories construct a portrait of a people and their place.