This is part I of the seminal novel by Halide Edip Adivar, a writer and feminist who fought for Turkish independence in Ataturk's army. She originally published it in English as The Clown and His Daughter in 1935. She then translated it into Turkish and published that version as Sinekli Bakkal in 1936. This is a translation of the Turkish version; the translator has not seen the English version. It is a nostalgic and loving look at the declining years of the Ottoman empire under the Red Sultan, Abdulhamid II, as seen through the adventures of Tevfik, the Clown of the title, who plays the female role, the Zenne, in the traditional Turkish theater art form, the orta oyunu, related to commedia dell'arte, as well as doing shadow puppets, or Karagoz. His daughter, Rabia, is trained by her grandfather, a fire and brimstone Imam, to sing the response in the mosque, but she also learns the art of love songs from the cruel but cultured Justice Minister, Selim Pasha. And there are many more characters ... the defrocked priest Peregrini, the Circassian concubine Kararya, the dervish sage Vehbi Dede ...