An interview with Belma Kâtip

    I recently traveled to Büyükada in order to try and find out a little more about Kâtip, the pen name of the author. My interview with Ms. Kâtip had been arranged by our mutual friend, Lawrence Goodman. Lawrence met me at the Büyükada ferry landing and together we took a fayton (horse-drawn carriage) to Belma Hanım's house. He led me through a lovely formal garden and up a flight of steps to the front door, where he pulled on an old-fashioned bell. It was answered by Belma Hanım herself, an elegant and distinguished lady of “a certain age” who could serve as the model for her own character Selda Arslan, the Turkish woman who invites the novel's heroine, Susan Kimball, to visit her island home, Burning Windows. Lawrence introduced us, after which, apparently by previous arrangement, he took his leave, saying he would join us again in an hour. Belma Hanım led me into a sitting room with a view onto the garden at the back of the house and a maid brought us tea.

    After a few minutes of polite small talk, she said: “So, my dear, what would you like to ask me? Lawrence is always so vague, I'm not sure what you are interested in knowing.”

    “Well, Belma Hanım, ‘Burning Windows’ is an engaging romantic thriller. Where did you get the inspiration for the story?” I queried.

    Settling back in her chair, she replied: “I suppose that the initial inspiration was that classic psychological romantic thriller beloved of all teenage girls, Daphne Du Maurier's ‘Rebecca.' I thought that it would be amusing to write a similar kind of story, but with an American heroine and set in İstanbul. Like the heroine of ‘Rebecca,' Susan Kimball is a plain, self-deprecating and unworldly young woman, who finds herself lost in a confusing maze of upper-class family histories and hatreds. However, unlike Du Maurier's heroine, who always struck me as rather wet and weepy, she has a typically American enthusiasm, curiosity and humor.”

    “What about Susan -- is she a sketch of anyone you have known?”

    “In a way. She is like several young American women I knew in the late '60s, who were intelligent and charming and fun, but shy and tended to underrate themselves and their abilities. I thought it would be interesting to place a similar young woman in an environment that I was familiar with but which would be completely strange to her. My reason for writing the story using Susan's own voice was that I wanted to establish a sort of dramatic distance, allowing the reader to come to know Susan better than she knows herself -- to see how she attracts other people and how she gains self-confidence as the story progresses.”

    “The story involves some of the elite of İstanbul's social scene, including those who are desperate to be accepted into it, as well as those fighting tooth and nail to retain their place in that social circle. Is the social life really all that cutthroat here?”

    “Today the scene is somewhat different, in that the influence of the old families is much diminished, so the situation now would probably not be so stark as that presented in my story. But 40 years ago, before the huge infusion of new money and manners, the old families still ruled the İstanbul social scene to a much greater extent.” She shrugged. “Some of the people on this island think they still do. The attempt of provincial moneyed classes to insert themselves into society is a continuing process. There will always be people like Mrs. Karasu [a character in her novel] trying to buy yalıs.”

    “Could you tell me a little about your background and history? Where did you live in the United States, and for how long?”

    “I was brought up and educated in İstanbul, and then went to a college on the east coast of the United States. I did graduate work at a university, also in the east, after which I returned to Turkey to pursue a professional career. I return from time to time to the United States to visit old friends and to do research in my field.”

    “With a cast that includes the relics of the past from the Ottoman court to the modern, upwardly mobile wannabes, you have seamlessly woven together the fabric of İstanbul itself with your characters. Are these characters based on people you have known?”

    She thought for a moment. “Well, yes, inevitably characters are to some extent derived from people I have known, but none are actual descriptions of them. It is more a matter of using a characteristic turn of phrase, or gesture, or expression to help create the fictional character. If you have someone actual in mind, you tend to know what they will say next -- and how they will say it -- so the dialogue actually seems to write itself.”

    “Are there any little tidbits of information about yourself that you would like to share with the readers?”

    “Really, my dear,” she chuckled. “I have probably already shared more tidbits than I should have. If my friends guess who wrote the book, they will inevitably believe that they have been caricatured or made sport of.”

    “Can we expect to see more from Belma Kâtip?”

    “Well, I really can't say for the moment. It might be fun to do a ‘Burning Windows II'.” Then, with a slightly mysterious smile, “I think dear Lawrence has returned to us now.” She glanced at my empty teacup. “Perhaps we should join him for a skim milk.”