Rembrandt's Model
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Overview
Ternar draws upon the turbulent history of Sephardic Jews in seventeenth-century Amsterdam, the artistic preoccupations with the elderly Remnbrandt and the controversial convictions of the false messiah of Smyrna to create an entrancing tale. The central character of the novel, Samuel, is the man with his back to the viewer at the center of a Rembrandt etching that depicts a group of Jewish men conversing in front of a synagogue. Ternar's expansive novel gives Samuel a face and a life history.Rembrandt's Model challenges the prevalent assumptions about Ottoman and Western European cultures, and imaginatively suggests how the Wandering Jew-whether travelling in real life, in an etching, or in a dream-was crucial to the spiritual identity of both cultures. The mystery and wonder of Ternar's novel envelops us as we travel over time and place with Samuel-spanning the centuries to the present day, from Spain, to Amsterdam, and then to Istanbul.
About the Author:
Turkish-born Yeshim Ternar is the author of the short story collections Orphaned by Halley's Comet and True Romance with a Sailor (which was shortlisted for Mordecai Richler's 1996 Prix Parizeau, and QSPELL's Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction), The Book & the Veil: Escape from an Istanbul Harem, a blending of essay and fiction, was described by Charles Foran in the Montreal Gazette as "daring in form and bold in intent."