Les Désenchantées — Roman des harems Turcs contemporains

André Lhéry, a weary but still inquisitive novelist, spends a spring morning sifting through a flood of letters that arrive from distant women. Among the routine missives, one envelope stamped from Istanbul catches his eye, stirring a familiar, inexplicable thrill that his mind has long associated with the city of minarets and the rolling sea of Marmara. The letter is written in a clear, modern French that belies its origin in the secluded world of a Turkish harem, hinting at an unexpected blend of intellectual curiosity and constrained longing.

Through this correspondence, André is drawn into the private lives of women whose education and inner worlds have blossomed amid the strictures of tradition. The narrative unfolds as a delicate examination of cultural exchange, the yearning for understanding, and the subtle pain that arises when ancient customs meet the restless spirit of modern thought. Listeners will be invited to glimpse a world rarely seen, where personal voices echo across continents, challenging both writer and audience to reconsider the boundaries of empathy.