
Last Train to Istanbul
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $25.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Sanjiv Jhaveri
About this listen
Born into privilege to one of the last Ottoman pashas, beautiful, spirited Selva is the brightest jewel in her father’s household - until she falls in love with Rafael Alfandari. Though Turkey has long been a safe haven for Jews, marriage between a high-ranking Muslim girl and a Jewish boy is strictly forbidden. Yet young love will not be denied, and Selva and Rafael defy their parents and marry, fleeing to Paris in hopes of a better life - only to find themselves trapped in the path of the invading Nazis.
But in the midst of darkness shines a beacon of hope: A handful of courageous Turkish diplomats, protected only by the tenuous neutrality of their homeland, hatch a daring plot to spirit the exiled lovers and hundreds of innocent Jews to safety. Together, they will traverse a war-torn continent, crossing enemy lines and risking everything in one last, desperate bid for freedom.
©2002 Ayşe Kulin (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The House by the River
- By: Lena Manta, Gail Holst-Warhaft - translator
- Narrated by: Courtney Patterson
- Length: 18 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Theodora knows she can't keep her five beautiful daughters at home forever - they're too curious, too free spirited, too like their late father. And so, before each girl leaves the small house on the riverside at the foot of Mount Olympus, Theodora makes sure they know they are always welcome to return. A devoted and resilient mother, Theodora has lived through World War II, through the Nazi occupation of Greece, and through her husband's death, and now she endures the twenty-year-long silence of her daughters' absence.
-
-
Too predictable
- By Donna Smith McG on 01-20-18
By: Lena Manta, and others
-
A River in Darkness
- One Man's Escape from North Korea
- By: Masaji Ishikawa, Risa Kobayashi - translator, Martin Brown - translator
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 5 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Half-Korean, half-Japanese, Masaji Ishikawa has spent his whole life feeling like a man without a country. This feeling only deepened when his family moved from Japan to North Korea when Ishikawa was just thirteen years old, and unwittingly became members of the lowest social caste. His father, himself a Korean national, was lured to the new Communist country by promises of abundant work, education for his children, and a higher station in society. But the reality of their new life was far from utopian.
-
-
Awful! And I don't mean the book . . .
- By DJW on 01-03-18
By: Masaji Ishikawa, and others
-
The Light of the Fireflies
- By: Paul Pen, Simon Bruni - translator
- Narrated by: Scott Merriman
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For his whole life, the boy has lived underground, in a basement with his parents, grandmother, sister, and brother. Before he was born, his family was disfigured by a fire. His sister wears a white mask to cover her burns. He spends his hours with his cactus, reading his book on insects, or touching the one ray of sunlight that filters in through a crack in the ceiling. Ever since his sister had a baby, everyone's been acting very strangely.
-
-
Worst parenting ever! Book NOT recommended!
- By Wayne on 04-27-16
By: Paul Pen, and others
-
Without a Country
- By: Ayşe Kulin, Kenneth Dakan - translator
- Narrated by: Kathleen Gati
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Hitler’s reign of terror begins to loom large over Germany, Gerhard and Elsa Schliemann - like other German Jews - must flee with their children in search of sanctuary. But life elsewhere in Europe offers few opportunities for medical professor Gerhard and his fellow scientists. Then they discover an unexpected haven in Turkey, where universities and hospitals welcome them as valuable assets. But despite embracing their adopted land, personal and political troubles persist.
-
-
Wonderful story of living in a different coutry
- By Lars on 12-05-19
By: Ayşe Kulin, and others
-
Beneath a Scarlet Sky
- A Novel
- By: Mark Sullivan
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 17 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He's a normal Italian teenager - obsessed with music, food, and girls - but his days of innocence are numbered. When his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs, Pino joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps, and falls for Anna, a beautiful widow six years his senior. In an attempt to protect him, Pino's parents force him to enlist as a German soldier - a move they think will keep him out of combat.
-
-
The Best Thing? It Really Happened!
- By Chip Atkinson on 08-07-17
By: Mark Sullivan
-
The Great Passage
- By: Shion Miura, Juliet Winters Carpenter - translator
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inspired as a boy by the multiple meanings to be found for a single word in the dictionary, Kohei Araki is devoted to the notion that a dictionary is a boat to carry us across the sea of words. But after thirty-seven years creating them at Gembu Books, it's time for him to retire and find his replacement. He discovers a kindred spirit in Mitsuya Majime - a young, disheveled square peg with a penchant for collecting antiquarian books and a background in linguistics - whom he swipes from his company's sales department.
-
-
Engaging, unusual, fun
- By LGLH on 02-11-18
By: Shion Miura, and others
-
The House by the River
- By: Lena Manta, Gail Holst-Warhaft - translator
- Narrated by: Courtney Patterson
- Length: 18 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Theodora knows she can't keep her five beautiful daughters at home forever - they're too curious, too free spirited, too like their late father. And so, before each girl leaves the small house on the riverside at the foot of Mount Olympus, Theodora makes sure they know they are always welcome to return. A devoted and resilient mother, Theodora has lived through World War II, through the Nazi occupation of Greece, and through her husband's death, and now she endures the twenty-year-long silence of her daughters' absence.
-
-
Too predictable
- By Donna Smith McG on 01-20-18
By: Lena Manta, and others
-
A River in Darkness
- One Man's Escape from North Korea
- By: Masaji Ishikawa, Risa Kobayashi - translator, Martin Brown - translator
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 5 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Half-Korean, half-Japanese, Masaji Ishikawa has spent his whole life feeling like a man without a country. This feeling only deepened when his family moved from Japan to North Korea when Ishikawa was just thirteen years old, and unwittingly became members of the lowest social caste. His father, himself a Korean national, was lured to the new Communist country by promises of abundant work, education for his children, and a higher station in society. But the reality of their new life was far from utopian.
-
-
Awful! And I don't mean the book . . .
- By DJW on 01-03-18
By: Masaji Ishikawa, and others
-
The Light of the Fireflies
- By: Paul Pen, Simon Bruni - translator
- Narrated by: Scott Merriman
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For his whole life, the boy has lived underground, in a basement with his parents, grandmother, sister, and brother. Before he was born, his family was disfigured by a fire. His sister wears a white mask to cover her burns. He spends his hours with his cactus, reading his book on insects, or touching the one ray of sunlight that filters in through a crack in the ceiling. Ever since his sister had a baby, everyone's been acting very strangely.
-
-
Worst parenting ever! Book NOT recommended!
- By Wayne on 04-27-16
By: Paul Pen, and others
-
Without a Country
- By: Ayşe Kulin, Kenneth Dakan - translator
- Narrated by: Kathleen Gati
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Hitler’s reign of terror begins to loom large over Germany, Gerhard and Elsa Schliemann - like other German Jews - must flee with their children in search of sanctuary. But life elsewhere in Europe offers few opportunities for medical professor Gerhard and his fellow scientists. Then they discover an unexpected haven in Turkey, where universities and hospitals welcome them as valuable assets. But despite embracing their adopted land, personal and political troubles persist.
-
-
Wonderful story of living in a different coutry
- By Lars on 12-05-19
By: Ayşe Kulin, and others
-
Beneath a Scarlet Sky
- A Novel
- By: Mark Sullivan
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 17 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He's a normal Italian teenager - obsessed with music, food, and girls - but his days of innocence are numbered. When his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs, Pino joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps, and falls for Anna, a beautiful widow six years his senior. In an attempt to protect him, Pino's parents force him to enlist as a German soldier - a move they think will keep him out of combat.
-
-
The Best Thing? It Really Happened!
- By Chip Atkinson on 08-07-17
By: Mark Sullivan
-
The Great Passage
- By: Shion Miura, Juliet Winters Carpenter - translator
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inspired as a boy by the multiple meanings to be found for a single word in the dictionary, Kohei Araki is devoted to the notion that a dictionary is a boat to carry us across the sea of words. But after thirty-seven years creating them at Gembu Books, it's time for him to retire and find his replacement. He discovers a kindred spirit in Mitsuya Majime - a young, disheveled square peg with a penchant for collecting antiquarian books and a background in linguistics - whom he swipes from his company's sales department.
-
-
Engaging, unusual, fun
- By LGLH on 02-11-18
By: Shion Miura, and others
-
The Dressmaker's Gift
- By: Fiona Valpy
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik, Justine Eyre
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the best-selling author of The Beekeeper’s Promise comes a gripping story of three young women faced with impossible choices. How will history - and their families - judge them? Paris, 1940. With the city occupied by the Nazis, three young seamstresses go about their normal lives as best they can. But all three are hiding secrets. War-scarred Mireille is fighting with the Resistance; Claire has been seduced by a German officer; and Vivienne’s involvement is something she can’t reveal to either of them.
-
-
Fifty/Fifty
- By Eliza McNally on 10-28-19
By: Fiona Valpy
-
The Nightingale
- By: Kristin Hannah
- Narrated by: Polly Stone
- Length: 17 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France—a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.
-
-
HEARTBREAKINGLY POIGNANT AND INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL
- By PatrioticMimi on 02-17-15
By: Kristin Hannah
-
The Fallen Stones
- Chasing Butterflies, Discovering Mayan Secrets, and Looking for Hope Along the Way
- By: Diana Marcum
- Narrated by: Stacy Gonzalez
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Atop a hill in the rainforest of Belize, next to the ruins of a fallen civilization, a butterfly farm raises the brilliant blue morpho. What starts out as the worst vacation ever turns into a quest to learn more about the first-of-its-kind farm when journalist Diana Marcum inadvertently discovers this wildlife sanctuary, which is supported by an international live-butterfly trade.
-
-
Bad narrator
- By Carole S. on 12-21-22
By: Diana Marcum
-
All the Light We Cannot See
- A Novel
- By: Anthony Doerr
- Narrated by: Zach Appelman
- Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is 12, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.
-
-
Afraid to Write a "Less-Than-Positive" Review
- By Elizabeth on 08-06-14
By: Anthony Doerr
-
The Broken Circle
- A Memoir of Escaping Afghanistan
- By: Enjeela Ahmadi-Miller
- Narrated by: Lameece Issaq
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Before the Soviet invasion of 1980, Enjeela Ahmadi remembers her home - Kabul, Afghanistan - as peaceful, prosperous, and filled with people from all walks of life. But after her mother, unsettled by growing political unrest, leaves for medical treatment in India, the civil war intensifies, changing young Enjeela’s life forever. Amid the rumble of invading Soviet tanks, Enjeela and her family are thrust into chaos and fear when it becomes clear that her mother will not be coming home.
-
-
Take heed
- By Pam Pearson on 07-13-19
-
America's First Daughter
- A Novel
- By: Stephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 23 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a compelling, richly researched novel that draws from thousands of letters and original sources, best-selling authors Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie tell the fascinating, untold story of Thomas Jefferson's eldest daughter, Martha "Patsy" Jefferson Randolph - a woman who kept the secrets of our most enigmatic founding father and shaped an American legacy.
-
-
Great Story Great Narration
- By MissSusie66 on 03-30-16
By: Stephanie Dray, and others
-
The Winds of War
- By: Herman Wouk
- Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau
- Length: 45 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Herman Wouk's sweeping epic of World War II stands as the crowning achievement of one of America's most celebrated storytellers. Like no other books about the war, Wouk's spellbinding narrative captures the tide of global events - and all the drama, romance, heroism, and tragedy of World War II - as it immerses us in the lives of a single American family drawn into the very center of the war's maelstrom.
-
-
A Masterpiece
- By Robert on 05-24-13
By: Herman Wouk
-
Sarah's Key
- A Novel
- By: Tatiana de Rosnay
- Narrated by: Polly Stone
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel' d'Hiv' roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours. Paris, May 2002: On Vel' d'Hiv's 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past.
-
-
Important subject and plot, pedestrian execution
- By Benson on 04-15-10
-
Mercer Girls
- By: Libbie Hawker
- Narrated by: Amy McFadden
- Length: 15 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1864 in downtrodden Lowell, Massachusetts. The Civil War has taken its toll on the town - leaving the economy in ruin and its women in dire straits. That is, until Asa Mercer arrives on a peculiar, but providential, errand: he seeks high-minded women who can exert an elevating influence in Seattle, where there are ten men for every woman. Mail-order brides, yes, but of a certain caliber.
-
-
Love her voice
- By Amazon Customer on 01-09-17
By: Libbie Hawker
-
The Women in the Castle
- By: Jessica Shattuck
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set at the end of World War II, in a crumbling Bavarian castle that once played host to all of German high society, a powerful and propulsive story of three widows whose lives and fates become intertwined - an affecting, shocking, and ultimately redemptive novel from the author of the New York Times notable book The Hazards of Good Breeding.
-
-
Skating On The Thin Ice Of Life
- By Sara on 04-29-17
By: Jessica Shattuck
-
Kane and Abel
- By: Jeffrey Archer
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 19 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
William Lowell Kane and Abel Rosnovski, one the son of a Boston millionaire, the other a penniless polish immigrant-born on the same day near the turn of the century on opposite sides of the world-are brought together by fate and the quest of a dream. Two men - ambitious, powerful, ruthless - are locked in a relentless struggle to build an empire, fueled by their all-consuming hatred.
-
-
Kane & Abel - 30 years later
- By Elliot on 10-03-11
By: Jeffrey Archer
-
The Girl from Krakow
- A Novel
- By: Alex Rosenberg
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1935. Rita Feuerstahl comes to the university in Krakow intent on enjoying her freedom. But life has other things in store - marriage, a love affair, a child, all in the shadows of the oncoming war. When the war arrives, Rita is armed with a secret so enormous that it could cost the Allies everything, even as it gives her the will to live. She must find a way both to keep her secret and to survive amid the chaos of Europe at war.
-
-
Horrified in all the wrong ways
- By Beauty&DecorJunkie on 01-22-16
By: Alex Rosenberg
Critic reviews
What listeners say about Last Train to Istanbul
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- S. Sale
- 06-18-18
Slow
Kept waiting for something to happen. Narrator inflections were off at the end of character's statements.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- w.l.
- 05-30-18
Interesting WWII rescue story
All I know about Turkey is the Armenian Genocide, something the country does not admit. Because of this I was skeptical about Turkey's involvement in getting Jews out of France. I spent a small amount of time researching this, and discovered that Jews were invited to live in Turkey back in 1492 when they were thrown out of Spain. Although they were accepted as full citizens, some barriers remained.
In WWII, Turkey attempted to remain neutral, and those Turks living in France were encouraged to return to Turkey, this includes Turkish Jews. Unofficially some Jews were issued Turkish passports and identities in order to be helped out of France to the safety of Turkey.
The story revolves around two sisters. one living in Turkey and married to a government official, and one living in France married to a Jew. Despite the laws accepting Jews, families did not generally agree to mixed marriages and this couple felt compelled to leave the country. The machinations to get them out of the country by a specially arranged train car, were fascinating. Stories of many others attempting to leave are intertwined in the main plot.
The book never gets down to the horrors of the times in the way many WWII rescue books do, and I've read so many I don't think I could have endured another book on the topic. The horror can be overwhelming. I wanted to know more about Turkey's position and actions at the time. But need a less biased source. I do recommend it for a new viewpoint.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- RLP
- 04-14-17
great historical fiction
This is a great historical fiction with many interesting character developments and personal interests to appeal to a variety.☺
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kiwiruss
- 06-09-18
Interesting topic, but too many characters, and accents a bit tough to follow
Felt like the story could have been shortened by 30-40%. Struggled at times to differentiate between some of the people. Felt like giving up a few times, but finally got to the end. Story line was good, but seemed tough to make the connections between the characters.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kelly
- 04-28-19
Loved learning more about Turkey's role in WW2
I enjoyed this book more than expected. From its description I expected too much romance and not enough exploration of the war and its affect on the Turkish characters. However, for the most part I liked it very much. I liked the two sisters and their relationships with each other and their respective husbands. I liked the new information I learned about Turkey's position in WW2, and how they mostly stayed out of it. The book made me curious to learn more and I found myself on Google multiple times. I like when historical fiction does that. There were a few complaints -- I didn't like Sabiha's relationship with the therapist at all. It felt gratuitous and slightly damaging to the character that I had grown to care about. I also felt the story about David's obvious PTSD was quite far off, in that everyone seemed to think he would just get over it. But then again, maybe that is the way it would have been treated at the time.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Green dragon
- 06-19-19
Captivating and inspiring
Interesting point of view on the spirit of the Turkish spirit. Despite dire circumstances, the Muslim Turkish characters in this story remained hospitable and went out of their way to help Jewish people living in occupied France escape the Nazis and welcomed them to Turkey. This is a great example of courage and love for mankind as opposed to the Nazi’s way .... man’s inhumanity towards mankind.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Marily
- 09-11-18
Istanbul stayed neutral
Just what does it mean to stay neutral? To walk a narrow line through two masterful countries. How can this work? Quite a story here,and very good. I have it at 4 because author was translated and parts were slower, or just felt wrong. Can't explain it. Information was really interesting and made you sit on the edge of your seat at times! Try it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Regina
- 08-31-16
Unknown history comes alive!
Once again fascinating Turks play a role that is both heroic and clever. Ayes Kulin captures, in a fast moving and insightful story, a "Schindler's List" fiction that motivated me to put down the book and study the history. Indeed, although historical fiction, absolute real events are told through Last Train to Istanbul as a character driven reflection of strong family values, humanity, and the strength of a secular country. True incidents of Necdet Kent and other members of the Turkish Diplomatic Corps are depicted in the novel, accurately detailed, according to several scholarly works I have reviewed since finishing the book. Fast read,
Bravo
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Deborah Thomas
- 04-21-15
Great story
I loved the story, although the performance was a bit stiff. I enjoyed learning about a facet of WW2 I hadn't known before.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- K. Maver
- 01-19-18
Awful, awful, awful narrator
I could not deal with this narrator. He had the same speech patterns over and over. I wanted to listen to this to break up the monotony of a long road trip. After about three chapters, I had to turn it off. It was not “performed.” It was read with limited inflection. It might be a great book. I couldn’t get past the reading.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
11 people found this helpful