Thank you very much, Anca! You have enriched me with your book and it has been among the greatest joys of this year! It deserves an extraordinary destiny befitting it, and enjoy the magic, because the magic exists; you created it, in your novel.

In “Those Who Buy Stars”, Anca Mizumschi takes us on an enchanted journey in search of answers to philosophical questions about the true meaning of life and immortality, a book with enigmatic characters, that transports us into an exotic world, inviting the reader to dream and roam incessantly across seas and countries for the joy of discovery.
Written in a poetic prose, the story takes us from Genoa’s powerful merchants, who built a maritime empire and sailed the world along the ancient trade routes from East to West, to Constantinople, the capital of Islam, a cosmopolitan city full of mysteries. In the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire experienced the golden age of its cultural development and prosperity, the territorial conquests providing the sultan with substantial income. In those days, Constantinople, the gateway to the Balkans, was the arrival point of the Asian caravans and a major port frequented by the ships of Christian Europe. The story starts with Mustafa, a Muslim goldsmith from Constantinople, a gentle, modest man, devoted to his family, and a talented and inspired jeweler. Mustafa’s life, the story of an ordinary man who marries and starts a family with the woman he fell madly in love with when he was young, gets complicated when the sultan asks him to create a talisman that would make him immortal, while his rebellious and only son, Musa, wants to leave home to see the world. The story unfolds as each character enters the scene gradually, seemingly from different geographical and cultural spaces, but whose lives intersect organically, weaving a story where love transcends all religions and life is in the moment, and raising thought-provoking questions about our existence.
A meticulously written historical fiction novel of medieval times, “Those Who Buy Stars” is also an allegory of today’s world, where the characters experience the same universal traumas as the contemporary man, that cut through time and space, such as children leaving home, the conflict between generations, intercultural marriage, economic wars for global supremacy, or the rise and fall of empires. Constantinople is the America of our days, a space of multicultural confluence and prosperity, and Musa is the portrait of today’s emigrants, citizens of the world, restless and adventurous, searching for better lives. A rich and engaging book sure to delight the avid reader, bursting with insights and cultural references, that uncovers the steadfast beauty of being and teaches us how to embrace wonder even in unsettled times!

I just read…in fact, I skimmed through a book one day without being able to let go, which I place right after Antony Doerr’s “All the Light We Cannot See” and Elif Shafak’s “The Forty Rules of Love.” It’s called “Those Who Buy Stars” – by Anca Mizumsky. It is a book of beauty akin to the stone embroideries of Moorish architecture, with labyrinthine alleyways, to get lost in, fine hands hanging stars in intricate weavings, gemstones that are enclosed in mystically constructed jewels, precious brocades and silks, meticulous maps that become eternal realms of the imagination. It is so vivid, so beautifully and preciously written…. a joy of a book!

“A Little Bit of Metaphysics and Astronomy” and some Onomastic Notes

Anca Mizumsky’s first prose work, ‘Those Who Buy Stars,’ marks a turning point in her poetic repertoire. Comprising a series of vignettes, each intimately tied to a singular character, the text flows with the fluency and musicality of poetry. Structurally, it defies convention, resembling a theatrical experiment, where characters emerge from the gallery of portraits and engage readers through the author’s eloquent narrative monologues.

Anca Mizumsky situates her fiction during the Renaissance, a significant artistic and cultural transformation period. Religious liberation, and the breaking of traditions are revealed through progressive characters that have an adventurous spirit and thirst for knowledge. Through their stories, the book offers an incursion into the mysteries of Eastern and Western worlds and their cosmopolitan centers – Genoa, Venice, Constantinople … They prefigure our world with its tendencies of globalization, conspiracies, the struggle for power, and the shadows of religious dogma – worlds of yesterday and today where all is for sale, immortality or the stars. The descriptions of these “Babel” cities – which are,  in fact, the true personages of the novel! – where beliefs, traditions, languages, and crafts intertwine, demonstrating that the tendencies of globalization have always existed, representing spaces of unification, understanding, and prosperity, where the Greek innkeeper Stavros, the Genoese merchant Tommaso, the Jewish apothecary Leib, and the Arabs – the goldsmith Mustafa and the mathematician astrologer Khalil – coexist like a large family in which each fulfills one’s role conditioned by the others.

The historical backdrop serves as a guiding dimension within the narrative, documented with significant details aimed at capturing the atmosphere of the times. It occasionally presents formally inaccurate information, to heighten the idea of political intrigue. The fratricide practiced by sultans upon ascending to power — a means for political stability and preempting civil unrest — was a habit, not a law, as suggested by the author, drawing inspiration from analogous occurrences during the era of the Ottoman Empire’s Sultanates. Similarly, the time of the narrative highlights women’s role in society and history. The Safavid sultana Havva, of external lineage – like Hürrem, her historical model, of Ruthenian origin, the most influential sultana in the history of the Ottoman Empire – plays a strong backstage role in manipulating the political arena. The “immortality” that the sultan aspires to (through the talisman to be crafted by the goldsmith Mustafa,) metaphorically symbolizes Havva’s strategy to evade the fate of her sons following the sultan’s demise. Feminism subtly cloaks itself in a sober ambiance and comprehensive diversity, manifesting in its tragic aspect (like the Greek Pelagia, the nun Elena), political dimension (Sultana Havva), charismatic presence (Mother Superior Eleonora, Catherine), mystical aura (the nun Cecilia), and the spirited, radiant persona of Ariadna, the daughter of the merchant Tommaso.

The representation of the characters is visual and atmospheric, framed – akin to pre-Renaissance paintings – by an exotic and magical landscape, devoid of perspective, defined by the delicate filigree of detail.

The fabulous woven through the pursuits of the ‘star buyers’ seamlessly melts into a latent realism directed by the historical and geographical dimensions of the endeavor, much like the metals and stones (chosen by Mustafa) meld into the talismans of immortality.

Stylistically, the text settles into impeccable forms with a flavor of Parnassian verse, realized through the author’s detachment from the subject or sensory perception of the objects. With a relentless concern for detail, amidst endless enumerations, it delves into a realm of archaic language, navigating across traditions and ethnicities, exploring the small vibrant worlds of culinary arts, textiles, brocades, spices, medicinal herbs, and gemstones.

The language gleams in diamond-like shapes, perfectly polished, gracefully flowing through the meanders of poetic epics, in harmonious variations. At times, its substance is too dense and oppressive, yet always evocative and eloquent.

 The characters remain elusive. Their portraits are rendered in sketches, employing naturalistic, symbolic, or expressionist strokes, sometimes in violent or grotesque tones: Ariadna’s first menstruation, Elena’s end, Pelagia’s rape scene. The narrative begins with the oriental ambiance of Meryem’s chamber (the goldsmith’s wife), suffused with a languid, expansive air, as Mustafa reckons her folds of flesh: ” three rolls of fat, one larger and two smaller, which bulged under the cloth of her nightgown and rose in rhythm with her breathing when she slept face up “. The characters’ emotional states are sensed with an intimate, almost animistic sensitivity, intricately inscribed into the objects or surrounding nature: ” the tall grass whispered an unsettling oval sound downwind”.

Though their fates intertwine, the characters, settled in their vignettes, possess the translucence of monads. Independent, detached from societal constraints and often transgressing religious norms, they stand solitary— even when they love –  (Tommaso, Ariadna, Catarina, Khalil), are introspective and fraught with anguish (Mustafa, Khalil, Leiba), or in the quest for identity (Ariadna, Mustafa, Musa). They navigate like monadic souls in pursuit of perfection, journeying across geographies, faiths, and customs. In the same vein, their destinies remain unsealed; as the narrative unfolds, they gradually fade and dissipate along the rollercoaster of history.

The motif of the journey is epitomized by Tommaso Serratore – the Genoese merchant, adventurer, and tireless traveler animated by an enterprising and audacious spirit. The journey does not unfold in linear time; rather, it leaps back and forth, like a wandering grasshopper on a map, from Genoa, Constantinople, Venice, Xi’an (China), to a Tibetan monastery… The narrative orbits around Tommaso, akin to Theseus bound by Ariadna’s threads with every character who roams the exotic labyrinth of their journey. He also serves as the messenger of the stone of immortality, he is a pivotal figure in the chain connecting Yonten, Catarina, and Mustafa.

Tommaso discovers femininity amidst cascades of muslin, lace, taffeta, batik, and chiffon—fabrics he adores. However, the traveler’s romances remain unfulfilled, tied to their geographic origins; they are engulfed in the intoxicating wine, with its dogmatic flavor, of Eleonora (within the Franciscan monastery), or in the opium haze of Catherine (in Xi’an). Tommaso is equally fascinated by the tragic appearance of the Greek woman, Pelagia, (encountered in Constantinople,) with a painful, deep furrow between her eyebrows and the pursed lips. He is drawn to her as she embodies the lineage of powerful, independent women with a free spirit. Shortly after moving into his villa in Galata, Tommaso ” left the mistress of vegetables, seeds, brooms, utensils, cups, buckets, and honey pots free to do as she pleased”.

The characters are imbued with the restlessness of seekers, endowed with talent, craftsmanship, or artistic vocation. The fervor of creation evokes obsession, addiction, liberation, or conversely, can ensnare the being, when limited or conditioned. During her childhood, Ariadna is charmed by the art of cartography in her grandfather’s workshop. In an expressionistic manner, the maps depicted both celestial and terrestrial realms, superimposing rivers and mountains with zodiac signs. In a similar vein, Ariadna grotesquely painted the distorted faces of her dolls that served only as instruments for her creativity, mirroring her grandfather’s approach to cartography, pursued solely for allowing him to draw. As a child, Musa, the son of Mustafa and Meryem, was enthralled by the art of navigation, crafting colored flags adorned with faces that “spoke” in the silent tongue of warfare’s color symbolism. Mustafa is endowed with the gift of knowing stones and transforming metals. Khalil creates horoscopes he doesn’t believe in, but investigates the astral and zodiacal mysteries in search of the stone of immortality. Mother Superior Eleonora practices the art of winemaking and consumes heavily from the fragrant product of her vocation. Yonten makes torma (Buddhist offerings).

The names of the characters complement the space of ideas through their symbolism and etymology, if not through the author’s intention, at least through their resonance or musicality in the narrative context. Those with lively and penetrating spirits bear names with prophetic connotations in Semitic languages. “Khalil”, Mustafa’s friend’s name means friendship, but it is also a secret name of divinity. “Mustafa” is another name for the Prophet, designating the chosen one. Mustafa is chosen by the sultan to carve the talisman of immortality. Musa (at the origin, “Moses”) is a visionary, the pioneer of the naval signaling system with flags. Havva – “the first lady” of the Serai – means Eve in Semitic languages. Havva manipulates and knows everyone by their traces left in stone, because “the rocks spoke to her in a hidden language.” Ariadna is as beautiful as a goddess, determined, endowed with unusual powers, her threads penetrate beyond the labyrinth of the monastery and the mysterious walls of Constantinople. In love, she is gifted and loyal like her namesake, the daughter of the god Minos in Greek mythology. Yonten, encountered near a Tibetan lamasery, is a “delok”—someone who has traversed death multiple times, a journey of spiritual metamorphosis. Having attained ‘nirvana,’ he gives Catherine the fragment of meteorite. In Tibetan, ‘Yonten’ symbolizes spiritual ascension. “Meryem” bears a Semitic connotation of bitterness. Dogmatic, inflexible, and intolerant to her son’s drifting, Meryem embodies suffering, prefiguring the Virgin Mary—her name’s Christian counterpart. Pelagia embodies the untamed fury of the open seas, harsh and unyielding (as her name suggests in Greek).

Cecilia, the Franciscan nun, finds solace in the ethereal realm, ‘worshiping the air,’ as she keenly observes the distant faces of saints adorning the monastery ceiling. Despite the Latin etymology of her name suggesting blindness, Cecilia is not sightless but rather deaf-mute, a condition that heightens her other senses. Her introspective vision, guided by unconditional love, makes her a martyr of suffering; she heals wounds, diseases and has a special relationship with death, transgressing the rules of the monastery. Cecilia buried unbaptized infants in her secret cemetery hidden within the monastery’s sacred grounds, marking each grave with budding chestnut saplings. Like a guardian of secrets, she shielded Ariadna and Elena’s forbidden love affair, just as she protected the chestnuts with her fervent prayers, infusing the garden with the otherworldly whispers and murmurs of departed souls: “Sister Cecilia refrained from approaching the chestnut trees close to the fence … And when she walked close by, she moved gingerly, as if tiptoeing on an invisible keyboard known only to her”.  Cecilia’s journey concludes with her seclusion within the caverns of the stone quarry, where she spent her childhood. Her narrative transcends mortality, continuing beyond her death. Her passage from the cave of the sensible realm to the Platonic world of pure ideas occurs imperceptibly: “her worldly flights, such as when she soared to the height of the sculptures in the basilica’s central nave, became effortless once she was free of her bodily restraints and all the toils of the realm she abandoned.”

The history of immortality is woven with threads of the author’s imagination rooted in speculations based on similarities between transmuted metals – central to alchemical quests for the philosopher’s stone – and the unknown substance of meteorites. Goldsmith Mustafa and astronomer Khalil present an alternative recipe for eternal life, based on astral and zodiacal elements, combined with the esoteric teachings of Tibetan Buddhism.

The talisman of immortality consists of nine rings, corresponding to the nine heavens described in Dante’s Paradiso, centered around the meteorite stone known as the ‘blue diamond’ or ‘Stone of Heaven’—elements anchored in mythological and folkloric origins. These celestial spheres represent the realm of death, as the possessor of the meteorite shard is Yonten, who has traversed death three times.

A symbol of the fleeting power, wealth, and knowledge limited to mortal grasp, the stone of immortality dies in the apocalypse of the plague, consumed by the flames from which it emerged, akin to God’s clay creation returning to the earth. Those unable to sever their ties to the stone—its seekers and messengers (Khalil, Mustafa, Tommaso)—shared its fate.

A novel that I entered spellbound as in a Sarai adorned with dozens of Bukhara carpets with ancient motifs, a dense text, woven with mastery and passion by Anca Mizumsky, who seems the spiritual sister of Orhan Pamuk: “Those Who Buy Stars”, this text is a well-orchestrated polyphony, in which historical, social, metaphysical, erotic themes are well dosed in a brilliant mix.

Written after serious research in the most varied fields (Ottoman history, Renaissance medicine, medicines and drugs, European-Asian trade, Christian and Muslim religion, Buddhism), the book is also a reverence for a past still full of mysteries, in which – in fact – we find a projection of contemporary man, with the same traumas, ambitions, and pride.

Anca Mizumsky constructs her narrative with the care and painstaking attention with which the goldsmith Mustafa of Istanbul chisels his diadems and other jewels destined especially for the Supreme Gate. The characters – well-drawn and individualized – gradually enter the scene, and the temporal planes intersect in a story that takes the reader on a cinematic ride through the Renaissance era between a dynamic Genoa, eager for beauty and conquest, and a magnificent and opulent Constantinople.