The Stone Woman Book

1 The summer of 1899; Nilofer returns home after an enforced
absence; Yusuf Pasha's exile; Iskander Pasha suffers a stroke	1
2 The family begins to assemble; the Baron makes an
impressive entrance; Salman's melancholy	14
3 The Baron reads an extract from the Qabus Nama on "Romantic
Passion"; the unfinished story of Enver the Albanian; Sabiha
and the Circassian maid who thought the only way of escape
was to fly	25
4 The Circassian tells her truth to the Stone Woman and
bemoans her fate; how the rich cancel the love of the poor	35
5 Petrossian tells of the glory days of the Ottoman Empire;
Salman insists that the borders between fiction and history
have become blurred; Nilofer writes a farewell letter to her
Greek husband; Orhan's belated circumcision at the hands
of young Selim	41
6 Iskander Pasha asks his visitors to explain the decline of
the Empire; the Baron points to a flaw in the Circle of Equity;
Salman's deep-rooted cynicism	52
7 Nilofer tells the Stone Woman that Selim has stroked her
breasts in the moonlight and she is falling in love with him;
she is shocked to discover that her mother has been
eavesdropping	61
8 The day of the family photograph; Iskander Pasha insists
on being photographed alone next to an empty chair;
the story of Ahmet Pasha and how he pretended to be the Sultan	84
9 Nilofer and Selim learn to know each other and she
realises that her emotions are out of control	102
10 A Greek tragedy in Konya; Emineh arrives at the house;
Nilofer is enchanted by Iskander Pasha	108
11 Sara recounts her dream to the Stone Woman, igniting
other memories and a few bitternesses	120
12 Memed and the Baron have an argument on Islamic history in
which Memed is worsted; Iskander Pasha recovers his power of
speech, but prefers to thank Auguste Comte rather than Allah	125
13 Salman meditates on love and talks of the tragedy that
blemished his life; his cruel betrayal by Mariam, the daughter
of the Copt diamond merchant Hamid Bey in Alexandria	139
14 Nilofer is overcome by longing for Selim and decides to marry
him; the Baron refuses to discuss Stendhal on love	160
15 Nilofer sends Selim to clear his head by talking to the
Stone Woman; he is surprised by the experience	174
16 The Committee for Union and Progress meets to discuss a
conspiracy to overthrow the Sultan; the Baron unveils a spy;
Nilofer would rather be an Ottoman than a Turk	178
17 A mysterious Frenchwoman of uncertain disposition arrives
unexpectedly and demands to see Iskander Pasha, who later reveals
how he used to spy on a married woman in the baths in Istanbul	195
18 The death of Hasan Baba, who is given a Sufi burial; the
return of Kemal Pasha; Sara's anger	205
19 The fragments of Kemal Pasha's life and his ambition to create
the world's largest steamship company; Nilofer reflects on
happiness and the meaning of life; the death of Mariam	213
20 The confessions of Petrossian; the murder of Great-great-uncle
Murat Pasha; the agony of Petrossian's family	226
21 Selim is so impressed by the Paris journals of Iskander Pasha
that he reads them twice; the Baron explains why the Parisian
crowd was different from Istanbul; the troubled life of
General Halil Pasha	232
22 What Catherine told the Stone Woman ten years ago	245
23 A messenger arrives from New York with a letter for Sara;
Memed plots to marry Jo the Ugly to one of Kemal Pasha's
daughters	251
24 The century prepares to enter its grave; Selim and Halil
discuss the future; Dante and Verlaine; Orhan asks a question
of Iskander Pasha	261
25 The full moon sets and the new sun rises	270
Appendix	273