The Executioner's Race

The Executioner’s Race... A female calligrapher in Ottoman Istanbul is condemned to death and imprisoned for turning holy prayers into faces and animals, for “reassembling the word of God.” Her only chance at life—a privilege rarely granted to a woman—is to win a race against a bostanci, one of the Sultan’s guards and executioners. Seven years later, in 1841, a man named Andersen travels to Istanbul and learns of the calligrapher Zeynep from a Turkish florist. Andersen, who is to become a great name in nineteenth century literature, sets out to tell the tale of the calligrapher and uncover the outcome of her story. What happened to Zeynep, and is the florist telling him everything he knows? The Executioner’s Race is a cleverly wrought and intriguing puzzle of a tale.