Week 10 Story: The Jewelry Soothsayer
There once was an ambitious, talented woman, named Gamze, who recently lost her job working as a jewelry appraiser. She was fired because they suspected her of theft; she hated discovering her colleagues' mistrust of and prejudice against Turkish people. Gamze was cast as a soothsayer, a trickster, a thief in their imagination, dismissing her dedication to her work and willingness to help others. She had a husband, named Alperan, who was stuck - stuck between 40 and 50 years and caught between multiple jobs. Gamze wanted more from their life, and she knew that she would be the one to raise the status of their family.
Gamze looked for other jobs but this reputation followed her to job interviews. She wondered how they could suspect her; if she had stolen the diamond and sapphire ring, she would not be subjecting herself to interviews with old white men.
One evening, a previous client, Benan, called Gamze to see if she had appraised a stolen necklace in the last few days. Gamze knew of the necklace because she had appraised it for a young couple right before she was fired. She told her client this, and they started formulating a plan to get the necklace back. However, Gamze stipulated that she would only hand the necklace over to Benan if she could provide proof of ownership. Benan provided Gamze with a police report of a stolen item and a picture of her mother wearing the necklace on her wedding day in 1923.
Gamze got to work. First, she called one of her coworkers from her previous job, someone that she stayed in contact with and still trusted. Gamze needed the phone number of the young couple before she could implement her master plan! After retrieving the phone number, she called the young couple and said, "I saw a photo of the necklace you got appraised a couple days ago, and I think it might have been under-appraised. I could re-appraise it for you. Are you looking to sell it soon?"
The man on the phone replied in the affirmative, and they set up a time to meet.
When the couple walked into the office space that Gamze had rented, Gamze explained how her colleague might have misjudged the large diamond, undervaluing the rare cut of the diamond. The other people in the room dressed and acted like employees, like appraisers. They were not - one of them was a detective who was working Benan's case, and the others were policemen. After the detective gave the signal, the couple was arrested. Finally, Benan was reunited with her mother's necklace, something priceless. As a reward for her work, Benan paid Gamze for her work and dedication. In that moment, Gamze remembered a fairy tale her mother used to tell her. It was about a man who became a soothsayer by finding lost items. She thought to herself, I could make this a career.
Author's Note:
This story is based on a Turkish fairy tale, in which a man who worked in various industries to support his wife. His wife was ambitious and wanted a higher status in life. A few friends of the husband formulated a plan to make the husband appear to be a soothsayer. This plan included stealing the ring from the chief soothsayer's wife, hiding it, and then the husband revealed where it was. I wanted to give the wife more agency in changing her own life. I also didn't want to make Gamze a thief, so instead she is almost a private investigator for jewelry.
Bibliography:
The Soothsayer; Story source: Forty-four Turkish Fairy Tales by Ignacz Kunos, with illustrations by Willy Pogany (1913).
Image information: Diamond Necklace at the Museum of Natural History
Gamze looked for other jobs but this reputation followed her to job interviews. She wondered how they could suspect her; if she had stolen the diamond and sapphire ring, she would not be subjecting herself to interviews with old white men.
One evening, a previous client, Benan, called Gamze to see if she had appraised a stolen necklace in the last few days. Gamze knew of the necklace because she had appraised it for a young couple right before she was fired. She told her client this, and they started formulating a plan to get the necklace back. However, Gamze stipulated that she would only hand the necklace over to Benan if she could provide proof of ownership. Benan provided Gamze with a police report of a stolen item and a picture of her mother wearing the necklace on her wedding day in 1923.
Gamze got to work. First, she called one of her coworkers from her previous job, someone that she stayed in contact with and still trusted. Gamze needed the phone number of the young couple before she could implement her master plan! After retrieving the phone number, she called the young couple and said, "I saw a photo of the necklace you got appraised a couple days ago, and I think it might have been under-appraised. I could re-appraise it for you. Are you looking to sell it soon?"
The man on the phone replied in the affirmative, and they set up a time to meet.
When the couple walked into the office space that Gamze had rented, Gamze explained how her colleague might have misjudged the large diamond, undervaluing the rare cut of the diamond. The other people in the room dressed and acted like employees, like appraisers. They were not - one of them was a detective who was working Benan's case, and the others were policemen. After the detective gave the signal, the couple was arrested. Finally, Benan was reunited with her mother's necklace, something priceless. As a reward for her work, Benan paid Gamze for her work and dedication. In that moment, Gamze remembered a fairy tale her mother used to tell her. It was about a man who became a soothsayer by finding lost items. She thought to herself, I could make this a career.
Author's Note:
This story is based on a Turkish fairy tale, in which a man who worked in various industries to support his wife. His wife was ambitious and wanted a higher status in life. A few friends of the husband formulated a plan to make the husband appear to be a soothsayer. This plan included stealing the ring from the chief soothsayer's wife, hiding it, and then the husband revealed where it was. I wanted to give the wife more agency in changing her own life. I also didn't want to make Gamze a thief, so instead she is almost a private investigator for jewelry.
Bibliography:
The Soothsayer; Story source: Forty-four Turkish Fairy Tales by Ignacz Kunos, with illustrations by Willy Pogany (1913).
Image information: Diamond Necklace at the Museum of Natural History
I like the story and the way you changed the plot to a far more noble (and legal) one. Also, yay for feminism. You have a really great, easy to follow narrative. I think you could add a little more to the ending to explain exactly what you mean by "I could make this a career." Let her plan it out in a little more detail to make her intentions clearer. I didn't get what you meant until the author's note.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, great story and good twists from the original.
Hey Karissa!
ReplyDeleteThis is a lovely story! You did a wonderful job developing Gamze's character, and portraying her not only through the feminist lense of a strong, independent woman, but also as a member of a minority community working to combat prejudice. I also really like how you've transformed the setting to modern day, and taken the "gift" of soothsaying and translated it to skilled detective work.
Hey Karissa,
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting story, and it had a lot of intriguing elements to it. I'll admit, though, that I was a little confused at the end. Why was she fired to begin with? You say she was suspected of thievery, but was she suspected of the same theft that she later helps solve, or a different one? Also, initially it says she's painted as a soothsayer, as though it's a bad thing, and later she decides being a soothsayer is good - you might want to define what a soothsayer actually is, because I don't know much about it. Is it related to thievery?
Hi Karissa! What a great story. I love how you changed the details of the story to make it legal haha! You did a great job and the story telling itself. The story was easy to read and easy to follow in my opinion. I do wonder if she will make this into a career though. It would be cool to see what she was doing in a couple years down the road, but I guess we can only imagine.Well done.
ReplyDelete