The Architects Apprentice: a boy and an elephant in Istanbul

The Architects Apprentice

by Elif Shafak

Viking, 452 pp., $27.95

The Architects Apprentice is as intricate and lovely as the tile work in the magnificent mosques its protagonist helps build.

Elif Shafaks new novel, a fantastical tale rooted in history, follows a boy named Jahan in 16th-century Istanbul at the height of the Ottoman Empire. He arrives at Sultan Suleimans palace a maze of rooms within rooms and paths that drew circles, a serpent swallowing its tail escorting Chota, a white elephant that is a gift to the sultan. Through the course of the novel, inquisitive, plucky Jahan grows from an illiterate 12-year-old to one of the trusted apprentices of Chief Royal Architect Sinan to a respected master of his craft.

Written in English, Architect was first published in author Shafaks (The Bastard of Istanbul) native Turkey. Through Jahans journey, she addresses weighty topics such as the conflict between art, science and politics; the crossroads of faith, superstition and fundamentalism; destiny and self-determination; and the many permutations of love.

Jahan, with his poets soul and eggshell heart, has three great loves: Chota, his dearest friend; Master Sinan, a brilliant and gentle father figure; and Princess Mihrimah, the Sultans daughter, who is drawn to Chota, the latest addition to her fathers menagerie, and grows fond of his keeper.

Animal lovers will relate to the bond between Jahan and Chota. With Jahan at his side or on his back, the elephant entertains at the sultans celebrations, does heavy lifting on construction sites and, with sharpened, lethal tusks and to Jahans horror, goes to war.

After their initiation into battle, it is Chief Royal Architect Sinan who brings a traumatized Jahan back from the brink, presenting him with a small carved wooden elephant whose tusks have been replaced with flowers. Sinan, a convert to Islam with an expansive world view, intertwines his knowledge of human nature and architecture as he imparts his wisdom: God has built the palace of our body ... Remember, even a beggar owns a palace.

And it is Sinan who deems that Jahan be educated in the sultans academy. But the menagerie remains Jahans favorite spot, as he awaits visits from Princess Mihrimah, beautiful as the meaning of her name the sun and the moon.

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The Architects Apprentice: a boy and an elephant in Istanbul