Regency stories with an Ottoman element - First part

There is a new interest in Regency period stories set in Mediterranean lands or else in the Ottoman Empire. Harlequin Mills & Boon is actively encouraging Ottoman set stories but with a strong English link. And there are some good stories out there already. Among those I have read are Amanda McCabe's series, To Catch a Rogue, To Deceive A Duke and To Kiss A Count, which have an underlying theme of excavations in countries like Sicily, Italy and Greece. Before that there was the deliciously funny Mr Impossible by Loretta Chase, which takes place in 1820s Egypt. Then there is my own April and May, which is set half in Istanbul [when Istanbul was Constantinople] and half in London.

Constantinople is a splendid setting for a story. Where else is there a city that sits on two continents, and where so many different cultures mingled with a reasonable degree of tolerance. That was a typical feature of Ottoman society - and although Istanbul is still Mediterranean and multi-cultural, the best place left nowadays where there is still full evidence of this tolerance is in Lebanon.