THE DARK MOMENT

January Literary Guild selection. Report repeated from p. 449 of the 8/15 Bulletin as follows: ""*A unique setting-Turkey at the dividing line between the old and the new- lends a particularly compelling charm to this story of the friendship between a high-born, gently reared Turkish girl, Feride, and the niece of an English scholar and philosopher, Fanny, who seemed- even in her early teens- very daring and advanced. Feride holds center stage through most of the story, as one follows her marriage to Orhan, who becomes Mustafa Kamal's ADC and staunch adherent. When the Empire falls to the Allies in the First World War, it is Mustafa Kemal who saved the country and brought it through to independence. It is one of the dramatic stories of modern nationalism on the march, and the human drama, as Feride- through her husband- becomes one of the vanguard of modern Turkish womanhood, makes absorbing reading. There's color in the rich tapestry of Turkish custom and thought; there are vivid scenes and live characters. With the war's end, Fanny comes into the picture again, seeking to prove how strong and real is the pull of the old love for Turkey and her friends. Her emotional entanglement with the Ghazi, while not wholly convincing, makes high climax and the story ends on a note of sacrifice for the new Turkey.....Closer to her Illyrian Spring than anything else she has done, though her women, from the wonderful grandmother down to Faride and Fanny, reflect a matured development.