The Architect’s Apprentice
The Architect’s Apprentice is a captivating historical fiction novel by Elif Shafak, set in the 16th-century Ottoman Empire. The story follows the fictional life of Jahan, an elephant keeper who becomes an apprentice to the renowned architect Mimar Sinan.
At the tender age of 12, Jahan escapes his abusive stepfather by boat and arrives in Istanbul with a remarkable gift: a young white elephant from India, intended for the sultan. As part of a rogue captain’s scheme to pilfer from the palace, Jahan assumes the role of the elephant’s keeper. He cares for the elephant, whom he names Chota (“little”), within the palace menagerie.
About the Author
Born in Strasbourg to Turkish parents, raised partly in Ankara and Madrid, and writes in both Turkish and English, which she has said produces two slightly different writers. The Forty Rules of Love braids a contemporary American housewife’s story with the meeting of Rumi and…
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