Red Dress in Black & White
Elliot Ackerman, 2020
Knopf Doubleday
288 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780525521815
Summary
From the widely acclaimed author of Waiting for Eden: a stirring, timely new novel that unfolds over the course of a single day in Istanbul: the story of an American woman attempting to leave behind her life in Turkey—to leave without her husband.
Catherine has been married for many years to Murat, an influential Turkish real estate developer, and they have a young son together, William.
But when she decides to leave her marriage and return home to the United States with William and her photographer lover, Murat determines to take a stand.
He enlists the help of an American diplomat to prevent his wife and child from leaving the country—but, by inviting this scrutiny into their private lives, Murat becomes only further enmeshed in a web of deception and corruption.
As the hidden architecture of these relationships is gradually exposed, we learn the true nature of a cast of struggling artists, wealthy businessmen, expats, spies, a child pulled in different directions by his parents, and, ultimately, a society in crisis.
Riveting and unforgettably perceptive, Red Dress in Black and White is a novel of personal and political intrigue that casts light into the shadowy corners of a nation on the brink. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—April 12, 1980
• Where—Los Angeles, California, USA
• Education—B.A., M.A., Tufts University
• Currently—lives in Washington, D.C., and New York City
Elliot Ackerman is an American author, currently based out of Istanbul. He is the son of businessman Peter Ackerman and the brother of mathematician and wrestler Nate Ackerman.
Early life
At the age of 9, his family moved to London where he lived until the family moved back to Washington, DC, when he was 15. He studied literature and history at Tufts University, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 2003, in a special program to earn Bachelor's and Master's degrees in 5 years, rather than the usual six. He holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and has completed many of the United States military’s most challenging special operations training courses.
Career
Beginning in 2003, Ackerman spent eight years in the U.S. military as both an infantry and special operations officer. He served multiple tours of duty in the Middle East and Southwest Asia. As a Marine Corps Special Operations Team Leader, he operated as the primary combat advisor to a 700-man Afghan commando battalion responsible for capture operations against senior Taliban leadership. He also led a 75-man platoon that aided in relief operations in post-Katrina New Orleans.
Ackerman served as Chief Operating Officer of Americans Elect, a political organization founded and chaired by his father, Peter Ackerman, and continues to serve on its Board of Advisors. Americans Elect is known primarily for its efforts to stage a national online primary for the 2012 US Presidential Election. As one of its officers, Ackerman was interviewed extensively, notably on NPR's Talk of the Nation.
He has served on the board of the Afghan Scholars Initiative and as an advisor to the No Greater Sacrifice scholarship fund. Most recently, Ackerman served as a White House Fellow in the Obama Administration.
Ackerman divides his time between Washington, D.C., and New York City.
Writing
Ackerman's fiction and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, Atlantic, New Republic, New York Times Magazine, Ecotone and others. He is also a contributor to the Daily Beast, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He has been interviewed in the Washington Post, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal and appeared on Charlie Rose, Colbert Report, NPR's Talk of the Nation, Meet the Press, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, Al Jazeera and PBS NewsHour among others.
Ackerman's first novel, Green on Blue, published in 2015, with Publishers Weekly referring to the novel as "bleak and uncompromising, a powerful war story that borders on the noir." Los Angeles Review of Books describes the novel as a radical departure from veterans writing thus far due to his choice of a first person narrator, the lowly Aziz, a poor soldier in a local militia.
Military Honors
Ackerman is a decorated veteran, having earned a Silver Star and Purple Heart for his role leading a Rifle Platoon in the November 2004 Second Battle of Fallujah and a Bronze Star for Valor while leading a Marine Corps Special Operations Team in Afghanistan in 2008. Ackerman is also a recipient of the Major General Edwin B. Wheeler Award for Infantry Excellence. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 2/10/2015.)
Book Reviews
[E]ntirely absorbing…. [The] characters, despite their vividness and their claims on our sympathy, are carried by a mighty undertow of self-interest. What lasts is the book’s emphasis on hidden machinations of power…. This reminder of unseen forces … provides the resonance… that ends the book—a musing on America’s overseas intrusions.
New York Times Book Review
Shrewd, intricately plotted, propulsive…. With all the intersecting perspectives, past-action leaps, socio- and geopolitical intrigue, and the need to contextualize modern Istanbul, the novel can feel a bit labyrinthine. But… there’s something of Graham Greene, too, in the insights and authority on foreign affairs, the combination of moral complexity with entertainment.
Washington Post
Cunning, atmospheric and filled with surprises in ways that call to mind the fiction of Joseph Conrad and John le Carré. Partly an ethical Rorschach test and partly a thriller in the vein of The Year of Living Dangerously, it’s the best novel yet from Ackerman…. It’s also a ton of tangled fun…. Splendidly gnarly.
Seattle Times
At once suspenseful and delicate, Red Dress in Black and White deftly depicts love in a brutal time.
Elle.com
In Ackerman’s wry if convoluted latest, the story of an unhappy marriage is suffused with pointed commentary on Turkey.… Still, the big reveal arrives too late and doesn’t quite offer enough payoff to justify such dense plotting. This falls short of Ackerman’s best work.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review) This absolutely riveting novel moves rapidly…. An attention-grabbing, cleverly plotted, character-driven yarn…. In Agatha Christie fashion, Ackerman gathers his characters for what appears to be the grand finale but saves the true reveal for the very end. —Michael Russo, Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge
Library Journal
Ackerman’s trademark prose evocatively captures the strained nature of contemporary Turkish life…. Deftly hints at a shadowy world that exists just out of frame and is one that lives long in the memory.
Booklist
The novel is deftly plotted, though the characters themselves seem more like pawns in the author’s narrative scheme, lacking much flesh-and-blood depth…. A novel in which relationships develop more from pragmatism than passion.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use our LitLovers talking point to help start a discussion for THE RED DRESS IN BLACK & WHITE … then take off on your own:
1. What do you think of Catherine? Is she a sympathetic character? What is her reason for wanting to return to the U.S?
2. Talk about Murat and his business practices. Our initial proclivity is to dislike him for his greed and dishonesty, as well as for a comment such as this: "he loves the idea of [his family] while, at times, he isn't certain if he's capable of actually loving them." Gradually, though, Murat becomes more sympathetic. How does the author humanize him?
3. What role does Kristen play in all of this?
4. Talk about the way state corruption directs the characters and their actions in this novel? Describe, if you can, the intricate, circuitous dealings within the government—and how Catherine, Peter, and Murat are manipulated without their knowledge.
5. How do the protests in Gezi Park propel the plot?
6. The book slips back in time frequently, making the story anything but linear. Did you have trouble following the many flashbacks, feeling perhaps that they overly complicate the plot? Or do you think the flashbacks add context and depth?
7. What is the significance of the photo of the woman in the red dress at Gezi Park—and why the book's title?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online and off, with attribution. Thanks.)