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When Jahan travels to 16th-century Istanbul as a stowaway carrying the gift of a white elephant for the sultan, little does he know the journey on which he is about to embark.

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The Architect´s Apprentice is a dazzling and intricate tale from Elif Shafak, bestselling author of The Bastard of Istanbul.

´There were six of us: the master, the apprentices and the white elephant. We built everything together...´

Sixteenth century Istanbul: a stowaway arrives in the city bearing an extraordinary gift for the Sultan. The boy is utterly alone in a foreign land, with no worldly possessions to his name except Chota, a rare white elephant destined for the palace menagerie.

So begins an epic adventure that will see young Jahan rise from lowly origins to the highest ranks of the Sultan´s court. Along the way he will meet deceitful courtiers and false friends, gypsies, animal tamers, and the beautiful, mischievous Princess Mihrimah. He will journey on Chota´s back to the furthest corners of the Sultan´s kingdom and back again. And one day he will catch the eye of the royal architect, Sinan, a chance encounter destined to change Jahan´s fortunes forever.

Filled with all the colour of the Ottoman Empire, when Istanbul was the teeming centre of civilisation, The Architect´s Apprentice is a magical, sweeping tale of one boy and his elephant caught up in a world of wonder and danger.

´A gorgeous picture of a city teeming with secrets, intrigue and romance´ The Times

´Shafak´s most ambitious novel yet her best - generous and imaginative´ Independent

´Exuberant, epic and comic, fantastical and realistic . . . like all good stories it conveys deeper meanings about human experience´ Financial Times

´Fascinating. A vigorous evocation of the Ottoman Empire at the height of its power´ Sunday Times

´Intricate, multi-layered, resplendent, vividly evoked, beautifully written´ Observer

´Sumptuous, absorbing, moving´ Independent on Sunday

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A gorgeous picture of a city teeming with secrets, intrigue and romance The Times

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