Madonna in a Fur Coat

Available in English for the first time, this best-selling Turkish classic of love and alienation in a changing world captures the vibrancy of interwar Berlin.

A shy young man leaves his home in rural Turkey to learn a trade and discover life in 1920s Berlin. There, amidst the city's bustling streets, elegant museums, passionate politics, and infamous cabarets, a chance meeting with a beautiful half-Jewish artist transforms him forever. Caught between his desire for freedom from tradition and his yearning to belong, he struggles to hold on to the new life he has found with the woman he loves.

Emotionally powerful, intensely atmospheric, and touchingly profound, Madonna in a Fur Coat is an unforgettable novel about new beginnings, the relentless pull of family ties, and the unfathomable nature of the human soul. First published in 1943, this novel, with its quiet yet insistent defiance of social norms, has been topping best-seller lists in Turkey since 2013.

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Published Mar 4, 2021

192 pages

Average rating: 8

9 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

@MissLitLife
Nov 11, 2025
8/10 stars
I enjoyed this...a sad and beautiful tale of unrequited love, full of prose like lamentations and "what ifs" as well as the enduring feelings of infatuation and romanticism that one often associates with first-time love and loss therein...the art meets life character of Maria Pruder has a timeless quality...

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