title: Harem: The World Behind the Veil
author:  Alev Lytle Croutier 
description: For almost 400 years, until 1909, the Grand Harem in Istanbul's Topkapi Palace was home to as many as 2000 odalisques bought at slave markets for a price lower than the going rate for a good horse. The Turkish author relates the day-to-day experiences of the women who inhabited these chambers: what they ate, wore, the games they played together, the opium-induced reveries in which they passed long hours. Croutier also considers the harem in larger contexts: as the "unbelievably repressive" Moslem equivalent of purdah; as "a unique archetype of the collective unconscious--matriarchy incubating in the cradle of patriarchy." But "harem" is Turkish for "forbidden, protected," and the Grand Harem guarded its secrets from the world successfully. Partly because Croutier doesn't always evoke harem life well in her own words, we wish for--but don't hear--the voices of the women themselves. Ultimately, the text is a choppy amalgam of history, reminiscence, conjecture and intermittently overblown writing ("The walls seemed to whisper secrets pleading to be heard"). Much more evocative are the 125 photographs and reproductions of art works included here. Author tour. <br />Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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  “This is a serious history, yet an immensely readable one—informative,
  gossipy, and grand fun.”
  
  
  —New York Times Book Review
  
  
  “This beautiful book … stimulates the mind as well as the eye”
  
  
  —Chicago Sun-Times
  
  
  “An alluring invitation into the labyrinthine corridors of the Turkish harem.”
  
  
  —San Francisco Chronicle
  
  
  About Harem: The World Behind the Veil, 25th Anniversary Edition
  
  
  In this fascinating illustrated history—a worldwide best seller—Alev Lytle
  Croutier explores life in the world’s harems, from the Middle Ages to the
  early twentieth century, focusing on the fabled Seraglio of Topkapi Palace as
  a paradigm for them all. We enter the slave markets and the lavish boudoirs of
  the sultanas; we witness the daily routines of the odalisques, and of the
  eunuchs who guarded the harem.
  
  
  Drawing on her own family history, Croutier also reveals the marital customs,
  child-rearing practices, and pastimes of “middle-class”