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Drawing on historical events, Shafak vividly narrates the theft of artifacts, war, colonialism, environmental crises, and genocide. From her extensive research, she raises critical questions about one’s connection to and responsibility for the past in this highly readable and engrossing novel.
Sights, smells, tastes, and a strong sense of injustice as well as unexpected acts of kindness all inform the novel’s complex structure. Its powerful insights into Turkey’s past and present challenges and the world today make it highly recommended.
Nominated for the Orange and Baileys Prizes and IPAC Dublin Literary Award, Turkish author Shafak uses rich, thought-provoking prose to illuminate women's struggles and fuse Islam with feminist theory. Like her compatriot Orhan Pamuk, Shafak illustrates the ongoing fissure between Eastern and Western culture in Turkey. [See Prepub Alert, 6/26/17.]
The nonlinear structure and lack of a central character create a somewhat disjointed reading experience, especially at first. But as the characters and their stories become more familiar, Shafak's unconventional style offers moments of surprise. A major plot twist toward the end pushes the limits of plausibility, but overall this is a worthy addition to a growing body of literature from authors with Middle Eastern roots. [See Prepub Alert, 9/24/12.]