A COURT AT CONSTANTINOPLE

In Earth’s historical novel, a young English barrister finds himself at the center of religious, social, political, and legal turmoil in mid-19th-century England.

Judge Edmund Hornby, charged with establishing and managing Britain’s Consular Court in Constantinople, needs a junior clerk. The government powers that be have selected James Bingham, an unseasoned junior barrister who has toiled to overcome the deprivations of his background, to fill the post. It’s the first time that James has even heard of the Consular Court. His mission is to help Hornby create a unified code by which the diverse factions in the “uncivilised” Ottoman Empire could work together with the British Empire on legal issues: “I need such a code. One that does more than copy French law. A code that applies the most fundamental principles of justice with Ottoman conditions in mind,” the Turkish foreign minister, Fuad Pasha, tells Hornby. “So, let’s create it together.” Kazim Hasan, the teacher of a Turkish legal study group, selects Osman Mehmed, an angry young man who resents the British, to work with Hornby’s team. James discovers, upon his arrival in Constantinople, that the establishment of codes is constantly delayed by trials that require immediate attention—one of which involves the sexual assault of a young child. Earth soon adds the tempestuous Rosamund Colborne, the scandal-prone daughter of a successful merchant, to the diverse cast; she provides romantic and legal drama to a story overflowing with culture clashes. Working from historical records, the author imaginatively builds upon actual cases handled by Hornby, fictionalizing them to suit his three main characters, each struggling to find their identities in a changing world. Overall, Earth’s legally complex, occasionally wordy novel highlights the appalling plight of women of the era, as reflected in Shariah or British cultural convention. The skillfully composed narrative ambles slowly through its setting, painting a powerful portrait of a time and place, but then it picks up speed as it rockets to an explosive conclusion.

A historically engaging and intermittently challenging read, with fine courtroom drama and a few surprises.