REAL HISTORICAL CHARACTERS (who have inspired the story)
OTTOMANS
Prince Hamid - Abdul Hamid (1842-1918), second heir to the throne, son of Sultan Medjid and Tirimujgan Kadin; step-mother Peresto Sultan.
Prince Murad (1840-1904) - Crown Prince, became Sultan Murad V (May 1876-August 1876); son of Sultan Medjid and Sevkefza Sultan, brother of Hamid.
Sultan Abdelaziz (1830-1876) - brother of Sultan Medjid, Son of Sultan Mahmud II and Pertevniyal Valide Sultan.
Sultan Medjid (1839-1861) - father of Hamid, brother of Abdelaziz, son of Sultan Mahmud II, husband of Peresto Sultan and Tirimujgan Kadin.
Sultan Mahmud II - father of Sultan Medjid and Sultan Abdelaziz, husband of Pertevniyal Valide Sultan.
Prince Yusufeddin (1857-1916) - son of Sultan Abdelaziz, cousin of Hamid and Murad and after them in line of succession.
Peresto Sultan (1826-1904) - wife of Sultan Medjid, step-mother of Hamid, became the last Valide of the Ottoman Empire.
Pertevniyal Valide Sultan (1812-1883) - a former bath attendant who became the wife of Sultan Mahmud II, mother of Sultan Abdelaziz and Valide when he became Sultan.
Tirimujgan Kadin - Hamid's biological mother, died in tuberculosis when he was ten years old.
Sevkefza Sultan (1825-1889) - wife of Sultan Medjid, mother of Crown Prince Murad.
Midhat Pasha (1822-1883) - Grand Vizier (previously Minister of Justice, Governor); pro-modernisation, pro-constitution.
Huseyin Avni Pasha (1820-1876) - Minister of War.
EUROPEANS
Flora Cordier - nothing is known about her other than that she came from Hanaut in Belgium and that she probably married Hamid in 1876 before she disappeared.
Reshid - alias Arminius Vambery - born Hermann - or Chaim - Wamberger (1831 or 32-1913), Hungarian; son of a pious and dirt poor Talmud scholar who became a trader in leeches and then died! His mother, whose name I don't know, was illiterate but smart, sacrificed everything to make sure her son got an education (even if it meant having him pose as a Hungarian Catholic). Reshid is said to have mastered 18 languages and dialects!
Sir Elliot - British Ambassador in Constantinople 1876.
Count Nicolai Ignatieff (1832-1908) - Russian Ambassador to Constantinople in 1876.
FICTIONAL CHARACTERS
OTTOMANS
Kizlar Agha - or the Chief Black Eunuch, the highest ranking Agha in the harem who held one of the most important posts in the Empire.
Kapi Agha - Master of the Privy Chamber (all important members of the harem had their own.
Mustafa - palace eunuch, Peresto's right hand and "fixer".
Jurad - eunuch, Hamid's Master of the Chambers.
Reza - leader of the Softa protesters.
Anoush - older sister of Siran, Armenian refugee from Anatolia and Flora's helper.
Siran - younger sister of Anoush, Armenian refugee from Anatolia and Flora's helper.
Fatma - Hamid's younger sister, married to one of the wealthiest Pashas of the empire.
Surur - wife of Midhat Pasha.
EUROPEANS
William Seagrave - British industrialist and financier, Flora's suitor.
Jane Seagrave - younger sister of William Seagrave.
YOU ARE READING
The Blue Hour
Historical FictionInspired by true events, 'The Blue Hour' is a story of political intrigue and doomed love set in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire during the summer of 1876. All Prince Hamid and the Belgian glove-maker, Flora Cordier, want is to pursue their for...
