The Black Tulip

Table of Contents

• Georgia
• The First Tulips
• Growing Tulips
• The Strangers
• The Daring Choice
• Voyage to İstanbul
• City of the World’s Desire
• The Poet’s Gift
• Master Hyacinth
• Beyond the Gate of Felicity
• Leyla
• The Mistress of the Gardens
• Harem Life
• Winter
• The Royal Halvet
• The Most Beautiful Clothes
• The Hall of the Sultan
• The Secret Paintings
• The Dark Prison
• Princess Fatma
• Anticipation
• The Miracle
• Heart’s Desire
• Then and Now: Turkey

Georgia

In her small village in the Caucasus Mountains of Georgia, Laleena’s father, Aslan, is one of the best painters. He paints of Christian icons for the Christian churches, even though he is Muslim. But he always tells Laleena, Cengiz, her brother, and the twins “Lailahi Illallah, there is no God but God,” regardless of what religion a person is.

Cengiz, Laleena, and their father often sit around the fireplace at night and paint and read. They study Mkhedruli for the language of Georgia, and Arabic for the language of Turkish. And they blend paints, glaze, and draw.

But when the Ottoman Empire attacks Georgia, Georgia’s king is unsuccessful in defending the country; Russia didn’t help him gather an army. When the Georgian army orders him to, Laleena’s father sets off to be a war painter who will paint famous battle scenes. Laleena and her family watch him fade farther and farther into the distance as he walks away.

Now, even after the war is over, and Georgia officially becomes part of the Ottoman Empire, Laleena’s father never returns. Although nobody knows exactly where he is, they all fear for the worst, and rarely speak of him.