The Architect´s Apprentice is a dazzling and intricate tale from Elif Shafak, bestselling author of The Bastard of Istanbul.

´There were six of us: the master, the apprentices and the white elephant. We built everything together...´

Sixteenth century Istanbul: a stowaway arrives in the city bearing an extraordinary gift for the Sultan. The boy is utterly alone in a foreign land, with no worldly possessions to his name except Chota, a rare white elephant destined for the palace menagerie.

So begins an epic adventure that will see young Jahan rise from lowly origins to the highest ranks of the Sultan´s court. Along the way he will meet deceitful courtiers and false friends, gypsies, animal tamers, and the beautiful, mischievous Princess Mihrimah. He will journey on Chota´s back to the furthest corners of the Sultan´s kingdom and back again. And one day he will catch the eye of the royal architect, Sinan, a chance encounter destined to change Jahan´s fortunes forever.

Filled with all the colour of the Ottoman Empire, when Istanbul was the teeming centre of civilisation, The Architect´s Apprentice is a magical, sweeping tale of one boy and his elephant caught up in a world of wonder and danger.