CHAP. PAGE
I.A DASH FOR FREEDOM[21]
II.ZEYNEB’S GIRLHOOD[31]
III.BEWILDERING EUROPE[47]
IV.SCULPTURE’S FORBIDDEN JOY[57]
V.THE ALPS AND ARTIFICIALITY[63]
VI.FREEDOM’S DOUBTFUL ENCHANTMENT[73]
VII.GOOD-BYE TO YOUTH—TAKING THE VEIL[83]
VIII.A MISFIT EDUCATION[93]
IX.“SMART WOMEN” THROUGH THE VEIL[105]
X.THE TRUE DEMOCRACY[111]
XI.A COUNTRY PICTURE[125]
XII.THE STAR FROM THE WEST—THE EMPRESS EUGÉNIE[131]
XIII.TURKISH HOSPITALITY—A REVOLUTION FOR CHILDREN[137]
XIV.A STUDY IN CONTRASTS[145]
XV.DREAMS AND REALITIES[153]
XVI.THE MOON OF RAMAZAN[169]
XVII.AND IS THIS REALLY FREEDOM?[179]
XVIII.THE CLASH OF CREEDS[201]
XIX.IN THE ENEMY’S LAND[217]
XX.THE END OF THE DREAM[233]

ILLUSTRATIONS

Zeyneb in her Paris Drawing-room[Frontispiece]
A Turkish Child with a SlaveTo face page[ 34]
A Turkish House” page [34]
“Les Désenchantées” (by M. Rodin)” page [60]
A Turkish Dancer” page [70]
A Turkish Lady dressed as a Greek Dancer” page [70]
Turkish Lady in Tcharchoff (outdoor costume)” page [88]
Silent Gossip of a Group of Turkish Women”page[102]
Turkish Ladies in their Garden with their Children’s Governesses”page[102]
Yashmak and Mantle”page[134]
Melek in Yashmak”page[140]
Zeyneb in her Western Drawing-room”page[160]
Turkish Ladies paying a Visit”page[172]
Zeyneb with a black Face-veil thrown back”page[184]
A Corner of a Turkish Harem of to-day”page[192]
Turkish Women and Children in the Country”page[192]
The Balcony at the Back of Zeyneb’s House”page[206]
Zeyneb and Melek”page[206]
The Drawing-room of a Harem showing the Bridal Throne”page[214]
A Corner of the Harem”page[214]
A Caïque on the Bosphorus”page[222]
Turkish Women in the Country”page[222]
Melek on the Verandah at Fontainebleau”page[228]

INTRODUCTION

In the preface of his famous novel, Les Désenchantées, M. Pierre Loti writes: “This novel is pure fiction; those who take the trouble to find real names for Zeyneb, Melek, or André will be wasting their energy, for they never existed.”

These words were written to protect the two women, Zeyneb and Melek, who were mainly responsible for the information contained in that book, from the possibility of having to endure the terror of the Hamidian régime as a consequence of their indiscretion. This precaution was unnecessary, however, seeing that the two heroines, understanding the impossibility of escaping the Hamidian vigilance, had fled to Europe, at great peril to their lives, before even the novel appeared.