Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant

Today I will be reviewing a book called Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff. It's about a Turkish lieutenant named Selim in early 19th-century Istanbul. He is tasked with interrogating a prisoner, Delilah Dirk, who was arrested for stealing precious Turkish documents. She tells him these outlandish tales about how she was born to a very important English father. She learned archery with the finest marksman in France. She learned to survive in the Indian jungles. She

learned acrobatics in Indonesia. She spent seven years in a Japanese monastery perfecting her sword technique. She even traveled to the American West. When Selim relays what Delilah told him to his commander, his commander doesn't believe that a woman could do all that. (This book takes place in a sexist time period.) Then, just to make things worse, Delilah escapes. The commander assumes that Selim let her escape and sentences him to death. Just before Selim is beheaded, Delilah saves him. They escape the city in her flying dingy. The rest of the book tells of all the adventures that they go on.

The artwork in this book is beautiful, especially the landscapes. There is a scene where Delilah and Selim are climbing an aqueduct. The aqueduct doesn't look real, but it looks very, very beautiful. Delilah is also very beautiful. She has a humongous ponytail with a tie at the top and a tie at the bottom. Her face is always so expressive.

 A scene I like is when Delilah first gets Selim into the flying boat. Selim's expression is one of pure shock. Then there's Delilah, who just looks so pleased with herself. I really like this scene because of the character's expressions. The artist captures what's going on in every characters head perfectly. I know what each character is thinking from just the looks on their faces.

This book is perfectly appropriate for anyone who doesn't mind mild violence and sword fighting. It's pretty funny. I love the character of Selim. I really love the character of Delilah. But most of all, I love how Selim and Delilah are complete polar opposites, but they still get along really well. I would give Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant 4 flying boats out of 5.