Sometimes Friends You Meet Seem so Familiar?!!

the Oracle of Stamboul by Michael David Lukas

Description:  Late in the summer of 1877, a flock of purple-and-white hoopoes suddenly appears over the town of Constanta on the Black Sea, and Eleonora Cohen is ushered into the world by a mysterious pair of Tartar midwives who arrive just minutes before her birth. "They had read the signs, they said: a sea of horses, a conference of birds, the North Star in alignment with the moon. It was a prophecy that their last king had given on his deathwatch." But joy is mixed with tragedy, for Eleonora's mother dies soon after the birth.

I entered a drawing on Goodreads, and was sent this book from the publisher for a review. 

Let me say that I LOVED this book!!  One of the reasons that I loved it was because the way that it was written was so James Micheneresque (James Michener is one of my favorite authors)!  This book is also historical fiction.

I loved Eleonora Cohen, the 8 year old that this story is about.  She is so sweet and managed to stay true to herself even when her world fell apart around her.  I was so glad that Eleonora's father loved her so much, and then when her father died, I was grateful that Moncef Bey took her in and took great care of her.

I loved all the intrigue of the story.  How good of a spy was the Reverend James Muehler?  Was the Grand Vizier a good guy or a bad guy? 

I especially love how I was transported to a different place and time.  I could smell all the smells that Eleonora did, see the sights, hear the sounds.

I always know that a book is good when it comes to an end, and I don't want it to end.  This is a book that left me wanting more.  What happened to Eleonora?  Where did she end up?  What did the future hold for her?

This is the first book written by Michael Davis Lukas.  He did a good job.