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Enlightenment Maureen Freely 9780714531410 Books

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Enlightenment Maureen Freely 9780714531410 Books

I read this book for the first time more than a year ago when it came out in hardcover, and I find I am still haunted by the love story, by Jeannie's thwarted idealism, and by the questions it asks about marriage and friendship. I've reread it twice since, and have suggested it to my book club--there's so much to talk about in it, and the story is so powerful and surprising. Freely's portrayal of Istanbul is so picturesque and compelling that I actually ended up booking a trip to Turkey to see what place could possibly be that beautiful.


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Enlightenment Maureen Freely 9780714531410 Books Reviews

Maureen Freely's Enlightenment is a complicated tale of lies, loyalties, and life that begins in 2005 when American ex-patriot Jeannie Wakefield's husband Sinan is arrested for terrorist links at JFK International Airport and her five-year-old son Emre is whisked away to foster care. Jeannie begs an investigative journalist known only as M to help her tell her story to the world and get her husband and son back. How far will M go to write the story of a suspected terrorist's wife, a woman who not only stole her one true love but also whose tale may put her own life at risk as well?

Enlightenment has its roots in the 1970s in Istanbul, Turkey, and, through the letters and diaries of Jeannie Wakefield, takes the reader through several decades of political turmoil and character growth. Although the characters are imaginary, Freely meticulously follows historical events and cites real news articles. This makes her novel so realistic I questioned whether or not it was truly fiction. Several themes run strong through her novel communism and the fear of its spread, the complicated international relations between the US, Turkey, and the Soviet Union, political freedom and the lack thereof, and the events of the 1970s that left the Middle East a very dangerous place to be an American.

Freely's characters are complex and realistic. Their thoughts, beliefs, desires, and ambitions are well laid out, and her work is deeply detailed. There are several interesting plots occurring at once, and it is interesting to read Jeannie's diary to discover how her life choices and those of her closest friends have led her to where she is today.

Enlightenment asks the reader to consider the state of post 9-11 America. "I ask all decent men and women in this court why they have condoned such vicious and illegal measures against my family," writes Sinan from his jail cell, where he is being held without trial. The lack of political freedom in Turkey is well laid out in this book, but what political freedoms are being denied in the United States as well? Freely carefully compares the communist-phobia of the 1970s to the Islam-phobia of our modern world.

I enjoyed this book very much. Freely's characters are memorable, her story lines are intriguing, and the final result is thoroughly thought provoking. The ending is sure to shock you. How far would you go to tell the truth if you knew it could kill you?

by Jennifer Melville
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women
A colleague of mine has borrowed the book and is going to read it and I cannot wait for her to read it so we can discuss it.

I recommend reading this book when you have some time. It's not something you can pick up and put down and return to easily because of the complexity and interwoven nature of the plots.

The things that happen in this book are frequently banal - or at least not very unusual. What is unusual is the mixture of the time, the place, the agendas of those involved and their cultural backgrounds that result in an ongoing story that truly is best served in the way the author wrote it. This is how real life unfolds afterall. Rarely do we see the threads laid out linear fashion. We run into people we haven't seen in years. They fill in their part of the story. We return years later to events that shaped who we are only to find out that things weren't the way they seemed.

I suspect that people who live with or in 2 cultures will have an easier time with this book than people who have only been exposed to only one culture. I found myself going back and rereading sections of the book to remember what had been said/done and I loved the little bit of whodunit nature of the book that weaves through it.

And I like the ending. I am not a fan of pat endings with all the threads neatly handed to me in a pretty bow. That said, I also despise when authors start something and then leave it out there and never resolve it to any degree, like an offramp to nowhere.

This had the balance of being like life - an ongoing story - but giving you enough sense that you understood better what was going on. And interestingly enough, I found myself caring for many of the characters in this book. She does resist the urge to stereotype with a heavy hand.
Great book! You just can't put it down!
Although I have not as yet finished the book, I am enthralled by it. She has written it as it was and at times, I feel that she is being very corageous..My husband and I were at Robert College in the mid-sixties - when Maureen was around eleven years old; and she saw all things from a very adult view,it seems, for the detail and facts as she writes are so true. I was always very aware of the"cultural difference" between the east and the west, and in fact when first there it seemed that they always had an entirely different approach to a problem or question, then, that the end the result turned out to be the same -- for both of us.
However, having lived in the area she writes about, being excited about being in a foreign country as I was, now to have Maureen bring so much of it back to mind so vividly, is a pleasure.I will read the rest of her books , too.
I read this book for the first time more than a year ago when it came out in hardcover, and I find I am still haunted by the love story, by Jeannie's thwarted idealism, and by the questions it asks about marriage and friendship. I've reread it twice since, and have suggested it to my book club--there's so much to talk about in it, and the story is so powerful and surprising. Freely's portrayal of Istanbul is so picturesque and compelling that I actually ended up booking a trip to Turkey to see what place could possibly be that beautiful.