The Carpet Merchant of Konstantiniyya, Vol. I

By Reimena Yee. Published by Unbound. 

Hardcover, Colour, 336 pages, 2020

Set in seventeenth-century Istanbul, The Carpet Merchant of Konstantiniyya, Vol I is a beautifully drawn meditation on love, home, faith and loss. It tells the story of Zeynel, an ordinary man surrounded by the extraordinary – his life, his death, and the aftermath of his transformation into a vampire.

Born into an esteemed family of scholars, the young Zeynel meets Ayşe, an Anatolian girl from a tiny village, who harbours big dreams. Where he is insecure and pressured to live up to the expectations of other people, she is sure of herself and knows exactly how to achieve what she wants. Perhaps there is more to their meeting than just chance.

Twenty-five years later, Ayşe is a successful businesswoman, and Zeynel her contented husband. But on a trip one evening, he plays Good Samaritan to a mysterious traveller, who turns out to be his undoing… Forced into unfortunate circumstances he must learn to reconcile himself with his curse and make sacrifices to protect the people he loves, even if that means letting go of the things he holds most dear.