Land of the Blind

Nadel, Barbara. Land of the Blind. London : Headline 2015. Print.

First Sentences:

He could only stand. A slight bend of the knees was all he could do and if he leaned forward his head touched the wall. Just out of reach, on the dirt floor, was a candle...His chest felt as if it was enclosed in the coils of a snake. The air, stale , and thick with dust, irritated his lungs, forcing him to breathe consciously against the pollutants as well as the embrace of the imaginary serpent.


Description:

It is funny how I came across Barbara Nadel's Land of the Blind. I had recently been reading several books by a new favorite author, Jess Walter, (So Far Gone, Over Tumbled Graves, and Citizen Vince) and wanted to read another of his works, Land of the Blind. But when I did a local library search for that title, I hadn't noticed I had accidentally reserved Barbara Nadel's novel by the same name.

 

Ah, well. After reading those first sentences, I was hooked, even though I knew nothing about the setting, characters, or plot. That writing and first impression were enough for me to plunge in.

 

Nadel's Land of the Blind is set in modern day Istanbul and revolves around Police Inspector Cetin Ikmen and fellow officers in their search for the murderer of an archeologist. She was a Byzantine art specialist and her body was found in Istanbul's ancient Hippodrome building. What was strange was that she also had also recently given birth, but no baby or blood was found at the site. 

 

Ikmen finds her personal diary that alludes to her recent discovery of a skeleton along with an ancient sword. She conjectured that this might actually be the remains of the last emperor of Byzantine, hundreds of years old. And her notes implied that she knew of a living relative of his family, despite the fact that this royal lineage had been completely wiped out centuries ago.

 

Meanwhile, there is a rich land developer who wants to purchase a historic house in order to tear down and build a luxury hotel. The house is the home to generations of the Negroponte family. The matron, a 90-year-old brain-damaged victim of the anti-Greek riots of 1955, still resides there under the care of her servant and her long-lost son (whom some question is actually her true son).

 

And I've saved the best part about this book for last. This is one of those special books that doesn't reveal the truth to an underlying mystery until the very last sentence. Any book that does this has a special place in my heart.

 

So read it, get absorbed into the modern and ancient life of the Turkish and Greek people living and working in modern day Istanbul, and try to discover the truth behind the mysteries that drive this story. A wonderful read on so many aspects. 

[If this book interests you, be sure to check out:]

Mukherjee, Abir. A Rising Man.

A British Scotland Yard policeman, newly-arrived in Calcutta, India in 1919, is faced with a complicated murder as well as his own shortcomings in this hot, humid, unsettling environment. (Previously reviewed here.)

 Happy reading.

Fred

[P.S. Click here to browse over 480 more book recommendations by subject or title and read the introduction to The First Sentence Reader.]