The novel is set in 18th century Istanbul at Topkapi Palace, at a time known as the Tulip Era for the popularity of the flower. Sultan Ahmed III is depicted as a fallible human being, with all his desires and simple joys. This portrait is reflected in his relationships with his chief painter Levnî as they freely share their deepest secrets. Levnî was ‘collected’ as a child tribute, taken away from his Christian family, and raised in the imperial school. But is that his real identity? The mystery is eventually solved. In the meanwhile, the Sultan’s intimate relationships in his harem and his love for a French girl are revealed as the reader is taken into the Sultan’s mind and those of his women. Passions rise as Levnî tries to choose between a male poet and a concubine. Rumours about an old Byzantine treasure on one of the Prince’s Islands told in flashbacks provide a subplot intricately linked to the main story. As Topkapi Palace stands in the background, home to extravagance and heinous plots, an apparently profligate Grand Vizier sets off the reforms intended to modernise an empire and a bloody revolt is beginning to foment. A splendid tableau of an exuberant era.
