From one of Turkey's most acclaimed and outspoken writers comes a novel about the tangled histories of two families. In her second 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 "bastard" 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 and powerful tale.

This book has languished on my shelf for years and due to the sheer number of its companions I considered releasing it unread at one stage. But this month I read it as part of a reading challenge, and I’m glad I kept it and read it.

An intergenerational and intercultural novel with a large cast of (mostly female) characters who are all fascinating. Shafak was brave to write about the Armenian genocide in the way she did and was actually charged with being anti-Turkish, although the charges were later dropped. The story is certainly interesting (even if somewhat predictable) and I learned a lot. But there are some weak points. The writing is a bit patchy, occasionally overwritten, and sometimes the tone just didn’t sit quite right with me.

However this is definitely a brave and interesting story and worth reading. The overall theme revolves around memory, both personal and national. Some do not want to remember and others cannot forget.

I’ll offer a tip though . . . keep a record of the characters via two family trees and it will help keep them all sorted.

Now reserved for a wishlist tag.

Off to keeta1 in New Zealand as a wishlist tag. Enjoy!

Thank you crimson-tide, the book arrived safely today :)
Thanks for the tip about the family trees, it can be so easy to lose track of all the players in a book, especially if the names are not ones that are that familiar to your own language.

I really enjoyed this novel. The characters were good and the landscapes of Arizona and Istanbul well described. An interesting ending, although there were a few loose ends left untied.

Travelling to Edwardstreet as a hitchhiker :)

Thanks