ELIF Shafak pays homage to the great Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan in her new multi-layered novel The Architect’s Apprentice. Set in the 16th century, the novel spans over half a century, covering the reigns of three Ottoman emperors, Suleiman the Magnificent, Selim and Murad, and reveals how old Istanbul blossomed into an architectural beauty as envisioned and designed by Sinan.

Yearning for immorality, each emperor sought to construct a number of mosques — every new project an endeavour to excel the beauty and grandeur of the previous one — in order to be remembered forever for his spectacular monuments. Shafak’s interest, however, lies in the lives and efforts of those confined to the margins of history: apprentices, labourers, workers, animals, minorities and women.

When Indian emperor Humayun sends a royal beast to Istanbul as a present for Sultan Suleiman, a young Indian boy named Jahan, whose family takes care of elephants in India, comes along with the white baby elephant he has endearingly named Chota for his unusually small size at birth.

Jahan starts working as the elephant tamer in the palace, a job that takes him to distant lands when elephants join the emperor on his war campaigns. On one such occasion, he and Chota help a carpenter named Sinan with the building of a bridge. Sinan, who would later become the Chief Royal Architect, is intrigued by this strange, promising boy. He encourages him to learn geometry, mathematics and languages, only to take him under his apprenticeship when he has the basic knowledge required for the job. Together they build many mosques, bridges, madressahs and many other buildings including an observatory.

But Chota does not only bring together Sinan and Jahan, he also draws close the young princess Mihrimah and Jahan before the latter becomes an apprentice. The princess is fascinated by Chota and often meets Jahan when she brings Chota treats. Jahan, unsurprisingly, falls in love. His love, like his character, is purely fictional. Shafak explains in the author’s note at the end of the book that she altered historical chronology to create her own time-frame and created fictional characters for the sake of her main story.

At its heart, The Architect’s Apprentice is the story of a master and his disciple, and their love for the art of designing and constructing, a vocation they believe to be sacred. Jahan is a tender soul with a curious mind who finds peace and harmony in architecture. He is also perplexed that Sinan chooses him as his apprentice when he already has three very talented ones working with him. Sinan tells Jahan that “architecture is a mirror that reflects the harmony and balance present in the universe. If you do not foster these qualities in your heart, you cannot build.”

Jahan’s unassuming love for the animal he loves as a brother serves as a reminder of this harmony and love. “If human beings could only live more like animals, without a thought to the past or the future, and without rounds of lies and deceits, this world would be a more peaceful place, and perhaps a happier one,” believes Jahan.

But by giving her protagonist only the best of qualities, Shafak has made it hard to imagine him as a plausible person, which is all right considering that she tends to bring elements of magical realism to her works. But sadly lacking in psychological depth as well, Jahan, like some of her other characters, remains shackled to the two-dimensional world of the pages.

It is, however, the simplicity of her style and her adherence to the Sufi principle of universal love, in addition to generally likeable characters, that make Shafak so appealing to readers worldwide. Moreover, her beautiful portrayal of strong female characters and the inherent discrimination against women in Turkish society has won over many feminists.

Shafak’s most impressive feat is her ability to create a literary language that does not try to imitate the predominantly male literary tradition. For instance, if we look at the unusual metaphors and similes she uses in The Architect’s Apprentice we find her comparing the whiteness of the elephant’s skin to boiled white rice; or describing the terrifying spread of plague thus: “it fluttered about in the sea breeze, frothed in the yeast of bread, brewed in the thick, bitter coffee.”

Shafak’s narrative resembles a great design, expanding the themes yet bringing into focus impressive details. Nevertheless, The Architect’s Apprentice does not quite transpire into the exhilarating read one expects, probably because the writer is trying too hard to make her story fascinating for those interested in mysticism.

The Architect’s Apprentice

(NOVEL)

By Elif Shafak

Penguin Books, USA

ISBN 978-0241004913

464pp.