Madonna in a Fur Coat

The internationally bestselling tale of love and loss in 1920s Berlin, now in Penguin Clothbound Classics

'It is, perhaps, easier to dismiss a man whose face gives no indication of an inner life. And what a pity that is: a dash of curiosity is all it takes to stumble upon treasures we never expected.'

A shy young man leaves his home in rural Turkey to learn a trade in 1920s Berlin. The city's crowded streets, thriving arts scene, passionate politics and seedy cabarets provide the backdrop for a chance meeting with a woman, which will haunt him for the rest of his life. Emotionally powerful, intensely atmospheric and touchingly profound, Madonna in a Fur Coat is an unforgettable novel about new beginnings and the unfathomable nature of the human soul.

'Passionate but clear . . . Ali's success [is in ] his ability to describe the emergence of a feeling, seemingly straightforward from the outside but swinging back and forth between opposite extremes at its core, revealing the tensions that accompanies such rise and fall.' Atilla Özkirimli, writer and literary historian

Review

You think you know yearning ... you think you know the fleeting nature of happiness ... you think you know unrequited love, you think you know lyrical writing ... and then you read Madonna in a Fur Coat -- Jack Edwards

The surprise bestseller ... read, loved and wept over by men and women of all ages ― Guardian

Deeply moving … transformative … a love story that I actually love -- Elif Shafak

A heart-breaker ... it has the kind of indefinably powerful impact of The Great Gatsby ― Observer

About the Author

Sabahattin Ali (Author)
Sabahattin Ali (1907–1948)was born in the Ottoman town of Egridere (now Ardino in southern Bulgaria). A teacher, novelist, short-story writer and journalist, he owned and edited a popular weekly newspaper called Marko Pasa. He is admired for the determination with which he defended his political beliefs, which are anchored through his writing. Madonna in a Fur Coat, first published in 1943, is his best-loved work and a touchstone of Turkish literary culture which continues to resonate profoundly with readers young and old today.

David Selim Sayers (Introducer)
David Selim Sayers is a founding faculty member of the Paris Institute for Critical Thinking (PICT). He teaches and writes on cultural history, particularly in relation to the Middle East and to narrative arts such as film and literature.

Maureen Freely (Translator)
Maureen Freely is a writer, a Professor at Warwick University, and the Chair of Trustees of English PEN. She has published seven novels and numerous translations of twentieth century Turkish classics and contemporary authors including five books by the Nobel Prize-winning novelist Orhan Pamuk.

Alexander Dawe (Translator)
Alexander Dawe has translated several works from French and Turkish including the short stories of Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar and Sait Faik.