''The Towers of Trebizond'' is a novel by

Rose Macaulay Dame Emilie Rose Macaulay, (1 August 1881 – 30 October 1958) was an English writer, most noted for her award-winning novel ''The Towers of Trebizond'', about a small Anglo-Catholic group crossing Turkey by camel. The story is seen as a spiritua ...

(1881–1958). Published in 1956, it was the last of her novels, and the most successful. It was awarded the

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Unit ...

for fiction in the year of its publication.

Plot

The book is partly autobiographical. It follows the adventures of a group of people – the narrator Laurie, the eccentric Dorothea ffoulkes-Corbett (otherwise Aunt Dot), her

High Anglican The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originate ...

clergyman friend Father Hugh Chantry-Pigg (who keeps his collection of sacred relics in his pockets) – travelling from

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

(or

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

as Fr. Chantry-Pigg would have it, or

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...

as Laurie would have it) to Trebizond. A Turkish feminist doctor attracted to Anglicanism acts as a foil to the main characters. On the way, they meet magicians, Turkish policemen and juvenile British travel-writers, and observe the BBC and

Billy Graham William Franklin Graham Jr. (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American evangelist and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well known internationally in the late 1940s. He was a prominent evangelical Christi ...

on tour. Aunt Dot proposes to emancipate the women of Turkey by converting them to

Anglicanism Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

and popularising the bathing hat, while Laurie has more worldly preoccupations. Historical references (British Christianity since the Dissolution of the Monasteries, nineteenth-century travellers to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, the First World War, the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

, St. Paul's third missionary journey,

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

) abound. The geographical canvas is enlarged with the two senior characters eloping to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and the heroine meeting her lover in Turkey, and then her semi-estranged mother in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. The final chapters raise multiple issues such as the souls of animals, and culminate in a fatal accident and its aftermath. At another level the book, against its

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglican ...

backdrop, deals with the conflict between Laurie's attraction to Christianity and her adulterous love for a married man.The Towers of Trebizond
at nybooks.com (accessed 14 November 2007) This was a problem Macaulay had faced in her own life, having had an affair with the married novelist and former Roman Catholic priest Gerald O'Donovan (1871–1942) from 1920 until his death. The book's opening sentence is,Macaulay, Rose: ''The Towers of Trebizond'' (Collins, London, 1956) The Turkish doctor says of Aunt Dot, "She is a woman of dreams. Mad dreams, dreams of crazy, impossible things. And they aren't all of conversion to the Church, oh no. Nor all of the liberation of women, oh no. Her eyes are on far mountains, always some far peak where she will go. She looks so firm and practical, that nice face, so fair and plump and shrewd, but look in her eyes, you will sometimes catch a strange gleam." Barbara Reynolds has suggested that the character of Aunt Dot is based on Rose Macaulay's friend

Dorothy L. Sayers Dorothy Leigh Sayers (; 13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was an English crime writer and poet. She was also a student of classical and modern languages. She is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between th ...

, and that Father Hugh Chantry-Pigg has elements of Frs. Patrick McLaughlin,

Gilbert Shaw Gilbert Shuldham Shaw (10 July 1886 in Dublin – 18 August 1967 in Convent of the Incarnation, Fairacres, Oxford) was an Anglo-Irish Church of England priest, from 1940 vicar of St Anne's Soho. His maternal grandfather was Sir Philip Crampton ...

and Gerard Irvine. The book was described in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'': "Fantasy, farce, high comedy, lively travel material, delicious japes at many aspects of the frenzied modern world, and a succession of illuminating thoughts about love, sex, life, organized churches and religion are all tossed together with enchanting results."

Editions

*The first UK edition was published by Collins of London in 1956. * The first US edition (under the same title) was published by Farrar, Straus, of New York, in 1957, with a new edition by Farrar Straus & Giroux in 1980. *A ''de luxe'' edition from the

Folio Society The Folio Society is a London-based publisher, founded by Charles Ede in 1947 and incorporated in 1971. Formerly privately owned, it operates as an employee ownership trust since 2021. It produces illustrated hardback editions of classic fict ...

, of London, with an introduction by

Joanna Trollope Joanna Trollope (; born 9 December 1943) is an English writer. She has also written under the pseudonym of Caroline Harvey. Her novel ''Parson Harding's Daughter'' won in 1980 the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Asso ...

, appeared in 2005 and is still in print. *A UK paperback version is also still in print, published by Flamingo.The Towers of Trebizond (Flamingo)
at amazon.co.uk (accessed 14 November 2007) *An edition was published by ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...

'' in 2003 with an introduction by

Jan Morris (Catharine) Jan MorrisJan Morris, Paul Clements, University of Wales Press, 2008, p. 7 (born James Humphry Morris; 2 October 192620 November 2020) was a Welsh historian, author and travel writer. She was known particularly for the ''Pax Brita ...

References

* Babington Smith, Constance (1972). ''Rose Macaulay''. London: Collins. . * Bensen, Alice R. (1969). ''Rose Macaulay''. New York: Twayne Publishers. * Crawford, Alice (1995). ''Paradise Pursued: The Novels of Rose Macaulay''. Madison, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. . * Emery, Jane (1991). ''Rose Macaulay: A Writer's Life''. London: J. Murray. . * Fromm, Gloria G. (October 1986). "The Worldly and Unwordly Fortunes of Rose Macaulay". ''The New Criterion'' 5 (2): 38–44. * Hein, David. “Faith and Doubt in Rose Macaulay’s The Towers of Trebizond.” ''Anglican Theological Review'' 88 (2006): 47–68. Abstract: http://www.anglicantheologicalreview.org/read/article/508/ * Hein, David. "Rose Macaulay: A Voice from the Edge." In David Hein and Edward Henderson, eds., ''C. S. Lewis and Friends'', 93–115. London: SPCK; Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2011. * LeFanu, Sarah (2003). ''Rose Macaulay''. London: Virago. * Moore, Judith (15 November 1978). "Rose Macaulay: A Model for Christian Feminists". ''Christian Century'' 95 (37): 1098–1101. * Passty, Jeanette N. (1988). ''Eros and Androgyny: The Legacy of Rose Macaulay''. London and Toronto: Associated University Presses. .

Footnotes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Towers of Trebizond, The 1956 British novels Anglicanism British adventure novels British autobiographical novels English novels Novels set in Turkey William Collins, Sons books