The Englishwoman Who Joined a Harem (sort of): Lady Mary Wortley Montagu’s The Turkish Letters (1763)

Joshua Grasso
Sep 3, 2018 · 9 min read

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu’s The Turkish Embassy Letters (1763) occupies a uniquely eighteenth-century cul de sac between travel writing, memoir, and satire. In keeping with the great works of fictional travel writing of her day (Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver’s Travels), Montagu took her actual impressions of Turkish…

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Joshua Grasso

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English professor at East Central University (OK); PhD from Miami University (OH); eternal student and lover of books

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