As the Western world struggles to comprehend the paradoxes of modern Turkey, a country both European and Asian, forward-looking yet rooted in ancient empire, Tales from the Expat Harem reveals its most personal nuances. This anthology provides a window into the country from the perspective of 30 expatriates from six different nations, who established lives in Turkey for work, love, or adventure. Through narrative essays covering the last four decades, these diverse women unveil the mystique of the ?Orient,? describe religious conflict, embrace cultural discovery, and maneuver familial traditions, customs, and responsibilities. Poignant, humorous, and transcendent, the essays take readers to weddings and workplaces, down cobbled Byzantine streets, into boisterous bazaars along the Silk Road, and deep into the feminine stronghold of Ottoman bathhouses. Coining the ?expat harem? as a distinct community, the editors boldly reclaim the concept of an Eastern harem, long the subject of erroneous Western stereotype. ?Much like the imported brides of 15th-century sultans, our expat harem is conjured by the shared circumstance of being foreign-born and female in a land laced with a harem tradition,? Ashman and Gökmen declare. ?Our writers are inextricably wedded to Turkish culture, embedded in it, yet alien nonetheless.?

"[T]he stories...entertain and inform. Read about navigating male-female relationships and one woman's really close shave in a Turkish hamam." International Herald Tribune

"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." National Geographic Traveler

"[A] wonderful book; beautifully written, thought-provoking and inspiring. Every essay is spot on, literary and insightful....Be ready to book a flight to Istanbul afterwards." Telegraph (UK)

This anthology provides a window into the country from the perspective of 30 expatriates from six different nations, who established lives in Turkey. Through narrative essays covering the last four decades, these diverse women unveil the country's mystique, the religious conflicts, cultural discoveries, and customs.