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The Architect's Apprentice
  • Published: 24 June 2015
  • ISBN: 9780241970942
  • Imprint: Penguin General UK
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 464
  • RRP: $24.99

The Architect's Apprentice

Formats & editions
Paperback
24 June 2015
EBook
6 Nov 2014
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A sweeping, magical novel from Elif Shafak set in 16th-century Istanbul, bursting with colour, romance and white elephants

Sixteenth-century Istanbul: a stowaway arrives in the city bearing an extraordinary gift for the Sultan. The boy is utterly alone in a foreign land, with no possessions, except Chota, a rare white elephant destined for the palace menagerie.

So begins an epic adventure that will see young Jahan rise from lowly origins to the highest ranks of the Sultan’s court. Along the way, he will meet deceitful courtiers and false friends, gypsies, animal tamers and the beautiful, mischievous Princess Mihrimah. He will journey with Chota to the furthest corners of the kingdom and back again. And one day, he will catch the eye of the royal architect, Sinan, a chance encounter destined to change Jahan’s fortunes for ever.

The Architect’s Apprentice is a magical, sweeping tale of one boy and his elephant, caught up in a world of wonder and danger.
  • Published: 24 June 2015
  • ISBN: 9780241970942
  • Imprint: Penguin General UK
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 464
  • RRP: $24.99
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About the author

Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak is an award-winning British Turkish novelist, whose work has been translated into fifty-seven languages. The author of twenty books, fourteen of which are novels, she is a bestselling author in many countries around the world. Shafak's previous novel, THERE ARE RIVERS IN THE SKY, was the UK’s bestselling literary hardback novel of 2025, selling over 500,000 copies. Her work has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the RSL Ondaatje Prize and the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, amongst others, and she is currently nominated for ‘Author of the Year’ at the British Book Awards. Elif Shafak was appointed President of the Royal Society of Literature in 2025. Her books have sold several million copies worldwide.
ES

Also by Elif Shafak

There are Rivers in the Sky
The Island of Missing Trees
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World
The Forty Rules of Love
The Bastard of Istanbul
A Ghostly Little Book
Three Daughters of Eve
See all

Praise for The Architect's Apprentice

A gorgeous picture of a city teeming with secrets, intrigue and romance

The Times

Exuberant, epic and comic, fantastical and realistic . . . like all good stories it conveys deeper meanings about human experience

Financial Times

Fascinating. A vigorous evocation of the Ottoman Empire at the height of its power

Sunday Times

Intricate, multi-layered, resplendent, vividly evoked, beautifully written

Observer

Sumptuous, absorbing, moving

Independent on Sunday

'A gorgeous picture of a city teeming with secrets, intrigue and romance'

The Times

'Shafak's most ambitious novel yet her best - generous and imaginative'

Independent

'Exuberant, epic and comic, fantastical and realistic . . . like all good stories it conveys deeper meanings about human experience'

Financial Times

'Fascinating. A vigorous evocation of the Ottoman Empire at the height of its power'

Sunday Times

'Intricate, multi-layered, resplendent, vividly evoked, beautifully written'

Observer

'Sumptuous, absorbing, moving'

Independent on Sunday