The Carpet Weaver of Usak by Kathryn Gauci

The Carpet Weaver of Usak by Kathryn Gauci

Springtime and early summer are always beautiful in Anatolia. Hardy winter crocuses, blooming in their thousands, are followed by blue muscari which adorn the meadows like glorious sapphires on a silk carpet.
Set amidst the timeless landscape and remote villages of Anatolia, The Carpet Weaver of Uşak is the haunting and unforgettable story of a deep friendship between two women, one Greek Orthodox, the other a Muslim Turk: a friendship that transcends an atmosphere of mistrust, fear and ultimate collapse, long after the wars have ended.
Life in Stavrodromi and Pınarbaşı always moved at a slow pace. The years slipped by with the seasons and news was gathered from the camel trains passing through. The Greek and Turkish inhabitants of these two villages managed to pull together in adversity, keeping an eye out for each other. In the centre of the village stood the Fountain of the Sun and Moon. Here the locals congregated to celebrate the events in each other's life - their loves and losses, their hopes and dreams. When war broke out in a faraway place that few had heard of, a sense of foreboding crept into the village, as silently as the winter mists that heralded the onset of another long, cold winter.
1914: As the tentacles of The Great War threaten to envelop the Ottoman Empire, Uşak, the centre of the centuries-old carpet weaving industry in Turkey, prepares for war. Carpet orders are cancelled and the villagers whose lives depend on weaving, have no idea of the devastating impact the war will have on their lives.
1919: In the aftermath of the war, the tenuous peace is further destabilized when the Greek army lands in Smyrna and quickly fans out into the hinterland. Three years later, the population of Stavrodromi and Pınarbaşı are forced to take sides. Loyalties and friendships that existed for generations are now irrevocably torn apart. Their world has changed forever.

Gauci, Kathryn: - Kathryn Gauci was born in Leicestershire, England, and studied textile design at Loughborough College of Art and later at Kidderminster College of Art and Design where she specialised in carpet design and technology. After graduating, Kathryn spent a year in Vienna, Austria before moving to Greece where she worked as a carpet designer in Athens for six years. There followed another brief period in New Zealand before eventually settling in Melbourne, Australia. Before turning to writing full-time, Kathryn ran her own textile design studio in Melbourne for over fifteen years, work which she enjoyed tremendously as it allowed her the luxury of travelling worldwide, often taking her off the beaten track and exploring other cultures. The Embroiderer is her first novel; a culmination of those wonderful years of design and travel, and especially of those glorious years in her youth living and working in Greece. Since then, she has gone on to become an international bestselling author. Code Name Camille, written as part of The Darkest Hour Anthology: WWII Tales of Resistance, became a USA TODAY Bestseller in the first week of publication.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780648123545
ISBN 10	0648123545
Title	The Carpet Weaver of Usak
Author	Kathryn Gauci
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Kathryn Gauci
Year published	2018-09-02
Number of pages	254
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.