Exploring Turkish Landscapes

Book excerpt: The first time Lisa Morrow went to Turkey she was just one of many young people on the great pilgrimage to Europe and beyond. The colourful sights, sounds and smells of foreign countries appeal to their need for adventure and excitement. When the enterprise becomes too trying, there is always the safety of a return ticket to fall back on. After a given period of time they're expected to return, a little older and a lot wiser. While some go for a year, others never make it back. At first Lisa only travelled across the vast expanses of Turkey as a visitor, but then she began to stay for longer and longer periods of time. Her initial glimpses of a culture less western than eastern were replaced by an awareness that Turkey is at times both and yet something more. These experiences became a metaphor for an inner journey from the known to the unknown and back. The uncompromising nature of Turkish culture and society meant she had to accept what she saw without changing it. In so doing she started to question who she was and look for an alternative way of being. Exploring Turkish Landscapes builds on Lisa Morrow's first collection of stories, Inside Out In Istanbul. This latest collection offers a much more personal insight into Turkish traditions and beliefs, and also takes us on an emotional journey as one woman rediscovers herself.