Istanbul in 1905: Cevdet travels through the city in a carriage, encountering various confessions, nationalities, worldviews, and social conditions. He tries to come to terms with his identity and his future. Thirty years later, Cevdet's three children are at the center of a world that has changed completely: the calendar, clothing, script, society, and the entire political system. Pamuk vividly and atmospherically depicts in his grand family epic the rise and fall of a dynasty. His novel spans three generations of a family while simultaneously charting Turkey's path to modernity.