The Drowning Guard: A Novel of the Ottoman Empire (49 page)

The sons of Bezm-i Alem (also named Irena/Sophie in the novel) ascended the Ottoman throne. Abdulmecid (1839-61) became the benevolent Sultan who was known for his reforms of the strict Ottoman rule, his openness and benevolence toward other religions and cultures, and his love of women and wine (which, as alcohol, is forbidden under Islamic law). I believe that his reign may have set the groundwork for the intellectual aspirations and accomplishments of progressive politics to come decades later—specifically for the democratic achievements of the great leader of the Turkish people, Mustafa Kemal or Ataturk.

And the Drowning Guard? When each lover was drowned, there had to be someone—an assassin—to carry out the murderous deed. I began to wonder what kind of man he would have been, the nightmares and regrets he would have endured, and started to write.

My gratitude to Philip Mansel for his exquisite and learned work about the Ottomans, for it was his account of Esma Sultan that inspired this novel.

P
hilip Mansel’s book
Constantinople, City of the World’s Desire 1453-1924
was a major fount of information and inspiration for
The Drowning Guard
. Not only were his sections on the life of Esma Sultan critical to my novel but so were his descriptions of the Janissary Corps and their rebellion against the sultan in 1826.

Thank you to the country and people of Turkey and in particular, Istanbul.

The splendor of the city and the legends of Constantinople dazzled me. How could I not write about such a magical place?

My sister Nancy Elisha has read every page published and unpublished of my novels. Had she not given me early and steady encouragement, I may not have become a writer. I love you, Nancy.

Along the way there were friends who were early readers of this novel, long before it was published. Thanks to Sarah Kennedy Flug, Lucia Caretto, Nancy Kuhn, Ted Diamandopoulos, Anne Fitzgibbon Shusterman, and John and Susan Boslough. Thank you for keeping me afloat when my spirits dipped, enduring so many years without a publisher.

Editor and screenwriter Lindsay Guzzardo discovered my novels and believed in me. Eternal gratitude to you, Lindsay. I’ll never forget you.

My agent Deborah Schneider recognized potential in my rough drafts twenty years ago. Thank you, Deborah, for taking me back after such a long absence and jump-starting my writing career. Thanks to Cathy Gleason and Victoria Marini at Gelfman Schneider for their hard work on my behalf.

Terry Goodman oversaw the publication of this novel. Terry, Lindsay was right. You are great. Your sense of humor carries the day. Thanks for stepping in as my acquisition editor and making this happen.

I appreciate my agents in London at Curtis Brown. Thank you Betsy Robbins, Sophie Baker, and Claire Nozieres for helping me connect with readers in other languages.

My editor Melody Guy worked hard with me on the novel, making suggestions throughout the manuscript that greatly improved the read. Thank you for your great patience and expertise, Melody.

My Amazon team—how do I love you? You send me Fran’s chocolate caramels, cheery emails, and good news. You help me to connect with readers every
day, to my great joy. Thank you, Nikki Sprinkle, Jessica Poore, Gracie Doyle, and all the rest.

My thanks to the production team, including copyeditor Paul Thomason, Jackie Ball, Brent Fattore, and Michael del Rosario. Also, my gratitude to proofreader Elaine Caughlan. What a lot of care and research you put into this, with all the Turkish, Ottoman, and Greek words in my story.

Thanks also to the Amazon art department. You always knock my socks off!

Thanks for the arresting cover design by the BookDesigners.

Marly Rusoff, thank you for your hard work on early versions of this novel, so many years ago. Also thanks to Kim Witherspoon and David Forrer, who also believed in this novel.

Alev Lytle Croutier, Bonnie Kaslan, and Rain Yagmur Archuleta—thank you for your generous offers of help with Turkish, Ottoman, and Greek words. Meltem Sonmez, thank you for helping with pronunciation in reading the Brilliance audio version of the book.

And thanks to the good energy of my yoga instructors, who straightened out the kinks in my mind and body while I worked on the book! Thanks Marlon McGann, Bel Carpenter, and Joanne Connington.

My gratitude to my beloved parents, Betty and Fred Lafferty, who read to us every night as children before we went to sleep. Those Grimm’s fairy tales shaped my imagination at a tender age, sending their furling tendrils into my dreams. Is it any wonder I became a writer?

Gratitude to the Aspen Writer’s Foundation and director Julie Comins Pickrell for a scholarship awarded in the summer of 2004, where I worked on an early draft of this novel at Aspen Summer Words. Writer Ron Carlson taught me to “stay in the room.” As his student I learned to see more, use my senses as I lingered in a moment longer, rather than racing on to the next plot point. (Best writing advice anyone has every given me, Ron… and I kept the fig in the story.)

Thank you to Lisa Consiglio for her support through the years.

This book would never have been possible without the help of other authors’ research. At one point while researching this book, I had fourteen books marked with sticky notes, all spread out on my bed while writing one single chapter!

Some books that were invaluable—those I returned to time and time again—included: Philip Mansel’s
Constantinople: City of the World’s Desire (1453-1924)
, St. Martins Press, 1998;
The Imperial Harem of the Sultans, Memoirs of Leyla (Saz) Hanimefendi,
Peva Publications, 1994;
The Imperial Harem, Women and Sovereignty in the Ottoman Empire,
Leslie P. Peirce, Oxford
University Press, 1993;
Lords of the Horizons,
Jason Goodwin, Picador, 2003;
The Ottoman Centuries, Lord Kinross,
Harper Perennial, 1979;
The Janissaries
, Godfrey Goodwin, Saqi Books, 1979;
Istanbul
, John Freely, Penguin Books, 1998;
Harem, The World Behind the Veil,
Alev Lytle Croutier, Abbeville Press, 1991;
Istanbul: Memories and the City
, Orhan Pamuk, Vintage International Editions, 2006. My gratitude to these authors for their expertise that informed my prose.

Finally, thank you Andy Stone. You taught me the craft of writing and pure dedication. You have always been my first editor… and the love of my life.

NORAFELLER.COM

T
he daughter of a naval commander, Linda Lafferty attended fourteen different schools growing up, ultimately graduating from the University of Colorado with a master’s degree and a PhD in education. Her peripatetic childhood nourished a lifelong love of travel, and she studied abroad in England, France, Mexico, and Spain. Her uncle introduced her to the sport of polo when she was just ten years old, and she enjoys playing to this day. She also competed on the Lancaster University Riding Team in England in stadium jumping, crosscountry, and dressage. A veteran school educator, she juggled teaching and working polo ponies while writing this book. She lives in Colorado.