Elif Shafak
Description
Product Description
From one of Turkey's most acclaimed and outspoken writers comes a novel about the tangled histories of two families. In her secon
...
d novel written in English, Elif Shafak confronts her country's violent past in a vivid and colorful tale set in both Turkey and the United States. At its center is the âbastardâ of the title, Asya, a nineteen-year-old woman who loves Johnny Cash and the French Existentialists, and the four sisters of the Kazanci family who all live together in an extended household in Istanbul: Zehila, the zestful, headstrong youngest sister who runs a tattoo parlor and is Asya's mother; Banu, who has newly discovered herself as a clairvoyant; Cevriye, a widowed high school teacher; and Feride, a hypochondriac obsessed with impending disaster. Their one estranged brother lives in Arizona with his wife and her Armenian daughter, Armanoush. When Armanoush secretly flies to Istanbul in search of her identity, she finds the Kazanci sisters and becomes fast friends with Asya. A secret is uncovered that links the two families and ties them to the 1915 Armenian deportations and massacres. Full of vigorous, unforgettable female characters, The Bastard of Istanbul is a bold, powerful tale that will confirm Shafak as a rising star of international fiction.
About the Author
Elif Shafak is the author of five previous novels including, most recently, The Gaze and The Saint of Incipient Insanities. She splits her time between Istanbul and Tucson, Arizona, where she is an assistant professor of Near Eastern studies at the University of Arizona. Her op-ed pieces have appeared in The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and The Wall Street Journal, and she has been featured on National Public Radio.
Read more