
The Seamstress of Ourfa
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Narrated by:
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Victoria Harwood Butler-Sloss
About this listen
The Seamstress of Ourfa is the first audiobook in a trilogy; a multigenerational tale about an eccentric Armenian family forced into exile by genocide and their quest to find a new home.
It begins in 1895 in Ourfa, a thriving cosmopolitan city in the Ottoman Empire. Khatoun Khouri, a girl of 13, meets her husband, Iskender Agha Boghos, a poet and a dreamer, who adores her but cannot express it in words.
Around them, the Ottoman Empire is crumbling, the world heading toward war, and the Armenian minority subjected to increasing repression, culminating in the genocide of 1915.
As Iskender retreats into his books and alcohol, losing land, money, and business, Khatoun holds their family together by sewing for the wives of the men who persecute them...her creations inciting lust, love, and fertility.
The family helps the resistance and ultimately evades the death marches to the Syrian Desert only to lose everything when exiled by Mustafa Kemal and following the birth of the Turkish Republic.
This is a story of friendship between enemies and of women who emerge from the shadows and rebuild lives in the midst of oppression. It is a powerful story of resilience and faith.
©2018 Victoria Harwood Butler-Sloss (P)2019 Victoria Harwood Butler-SlossListeners also enjoyed...
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The rhythm of life... the pattern of words...
- By Blue on 04-16-13
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A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True
- By: Brigid Pasulka
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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The novel opens on the eve of World War II. In the mountain village of Half-Village, a young man nicknamed the Pigeon, under the approving eyes of the entire village, courts the beautiful Anielica Hetmanska. But the war's arrival wreaks havoc in all their lives and delays their marriage for six long years.
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The Old & New Worlds Converge & Transcend Time
- By Sara on 11-22-16
By: Brigid Pasulka
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Behind the Scenes at the Museum
- A Novel
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Pearl Hewitt
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Ruby Lennox begins narrating her life at the moment of conception, and from there takes us on a whirlwind tour of the 20th century as seen through the eyes of an English girl determined to learn about her family and its secrets.
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Another Kate Atkinson multi-generational story
- By Satisfied Customer on 11-08-18
By: Kate Atkinson
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Pearl in a Cage
- By: Joy Dettman
- Narrated by: Deidre Rubenstein
- Length: 20 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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On a balmy midsummer's evening in 1923, a young woman - foreign, dishevelled and heavily pregnant - is found unconscious just off the railway tracks in the tiny logging community of Woody Creek. The town midwife, Gertrude Foote, is roused from her bed when the woman is brought to her door. Try as she might, Gertrude is unable to save her, but the baby lives.
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Pearl in a Cage
- By Verita on 06-16-17
By: Joy Dettman
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East of the Sun
- By: Julia Gregson
- Narrated by: Tania Rodrigues
- Length: 19 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Autumn 1928. Three young women are on their way to India, each with a new life in mind. Rose, a beautiful but naive bride-to-be, is anxious about leaving her family and marrying a man she hardly knows. Victoria, her bridesmaid couldn't be happier to get away from her overbearing mother, and is determined to find herself a husband. And Viva, their inexperienced chaperone, is in search of the India of her childhood, ghosts from the past and freedom.
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Indian history takes a back seat to 3 young women
- By Richard on 05-24-16
By: Julia Gregson
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Beyond the Pale
- By: Elana Dykewomon
- Narrated by: Elana Dykewomon
- Length: 15 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Beyond the Pale - winner of the Lambda Literary Award - tells the stories of two Jewish women living through times of darkness and inhumanity in the early 20th century, capturing their undaunted love and courage in luminous and moving prose. The richly textured novel details Gutke Gurvich's odyssey from her apprenticeship as a midwife in a Russian shtetl to her work in the suffrage movement in New York.
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great historical fiction with a lesbian twist
- By Kelly on 11-25-13
By: Elana Dykewomon
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The Ballad of the Sad Café
- By: Carson McCullers
- Narrated by: David Ledoux, Joe Barrett, Therese Plummer, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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A classic work that has charmed generations of readers, this collection assembles Carson McCullers' best stories, including her beloved novella The Ballad of the Sad Cafe. A haunting tale of a human triangle that culminates in an astonishing brawl, the novella introduces readers to Miss Amelia, a formidable southern woman whose cafe serves as the town's gathering place. Among other fine works, the collection also includes "Wunderkind", McCullers' first published story, written when she was only 17, about a musical prodigy who suddenly realizes she will not go on to become a great pianist.
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Literate short stories
- By RueRue on 02-23-16
By: Carson McCullers
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The Girl with the Louding Voice
- A Novel
- By: Abi Daré
- Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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The unforgettable, inspiring story of a teenage girl growing up in a rural Nigerian village who longs to get an education so that she can find her “louding voice” and speak up for herself, The Girl with the Louding Voice is a simultaneously heartbreaking and triumphant tale about the power of fighting for your dreams.
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A must HEAR!
- By Michelle on 03-09-20
By: Abi Daré
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Gone with the Wind
- By: Margaret Mitchell
- Narrated by: Linda Stephens
- Length: 49 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Literature, Margaret Mitchell's great novel of the South is one of the most popular books ever written. Within six months of its publication in 1936, Gone With the Wind had sold a million copies. To date, it has been translated into 25 languages, and more than 28 million copies have been sold. Here are the characters that have become symbols of passion and desire....
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Got the Accents Right
- By Noel on 04-27-10
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Honor
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marno, Piter Marik
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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An honor killing shatters and transforms the lives of Turkish immigrants in 1970s London. Internationally best-selling Turkish author Elif Shafak’s new novel is a dramatic tale of families, love, and misunderstandings that follows the destinies of twin sisters born in a Kurdish village. While Jamila stays to become a midwife, Pembe follows her Turkish husband, Adem, to London, where they hope to make new lives for themselves and their children. In London, they face a choice: stay loyal to the old traditions or try their best to fit in.
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Complex but Compelling
- By Cariola on 04-14-13
By: Elif Shafak
What listeners say about The Seamstress of Ourfa
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Evan Williams
- 06-09-20
Beautifully written and read!
This is truly a beautifully written and read book! I felt drawn into a world, culture and part of history ie The Armenian Genocide, that I previously knew nothing about. In this recording the author inhabits each character with so much individualism and flare you literally feel you are in the room with each of them. She weaves history and fiction together to tell a beautifully moving story, and in doing so, left me waiting with baited breath for the next installment!
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- R G Hart
- 10-25-21
Wonderful book
This book is a perfect jem. The narrator did herself proud, too. One of the few reads I would listen to again.
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- jane vernon
- 08-11-19
I binged this book for the best part of two days.
I listened to this book for two days straight, six or so hours each day. I could not pry the wireless headphones from my ears.
This is a magical book.
Read by the author, Victoria Hardwood Butler-Sloss, the story falls from her lips in the most lyrical evocative prose. She showed me scenes and I was there, I could smell, touch, feel, see it all. I watched tiny, peripheral movements, nuanced gestures, and larger than life majestic scenes. Through her stunning words and the visions she painted, I saw three generations of family navigate the beautiful culture of the Armenian community in Ourfa in the early 1900s. I watched an enduring nation suffer through the Armenian genocide at the tail end of the Ottoman Empire. I experienced a community of women pulling together through the bonds of friendship and deep love for family.
Her characters are robust. Their relationship to each other is richly woven with reaching introspection, a delightful sense of humor, and authentic dialogue seamless in its narration. I was transported to a world that I knew nothing about and once I was there I had no desire to leave. I wanted to live in their houses, eat their food, sew in their workshop, and be part of the delicious circle of women who are the central players in this story.
This book is nothing short of cinematic. Victoria is a skilled writer and enchanting narrator. I highly recommend the journey.
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1 person found this helpful