Honor

March 11, 2013
Shafak (The Bastard of Istanbul) grips the reader from the opening page when, in 1992, Iskender Toprek is finally released from an English prison, to be picked up by his sister Esma. As Esma narrates the shifts in time, space, and perspective, it is soon revealed that Iskender was incarcerated for the murder of his own mother; the details of how and why shared in flashbacks from various members of the Toprek family, Turkish/Kurdish immigrants in 1970s London. Adem, the father, has "abandoned his family for a dancer," while mother Pembe has had an affair of her own. In a school with few immigrant students, only daughter Esma attempts to fit in; youngest son Yunus falls in with a group of squatters who distrust the government, and Iskender attempts to take on the role of protecting his family after Adem leaves the household. Quotidian events in each character's life begin to mesh and Esma tries to make sense of the murder, but they culminate with a surprising turn. Shafak's wonderfully expressive prose, sprinkled throughout with Turkish words and phrases, brings the characters to life in such a way that readers will feel they are living the roles. Agent: Elizabeth Sheinkman, William Morris Endeavor (UK)

February 1, 2013
Turkish novelist Shafak again explores sociopolitical issues within a deeply human context in this tragedy about how traditional Turkish Muslim attitudes toward women impact a family that has immigrated to England. "My mother died twice," is the novel's telling first line, spoken in 1992 London by educated, assimilated Esma on her way to pick up her brother Iskender from the prison where he's been incarcerated since 1978 for the murder of their mother, Pembe. The killing is a given. The drama lies in what led to such violence, which Shafak explains through the history of Pembe and her husband, Adem, with whom she moved to London, of their three children who have grown up in England, and of Pembe's twin sister, Jamila, who has stayed behind in rural Turkey. Pembe has always been the more adventurous sister, Jamila the dreamy, spiritual one. Originally, Adem falls in love with Jamila, but she is already promised to an elderly man from the family that kidnapped her and therefore compromised her honor. Seeing him as a means of escaping to a larger world, Pembe convinces Adem to marry her instead. They move to London. By the late 1970s, Adem has gambled away their savings and deserted Pembe to live with his mistress. To make ends meet, she takes a job at a hair salon and begins to blossom. Bookish Esma and handsome Iskender struggle as teens to find their place in British society, but British-born 7-year-old Yunus is thoroughly British. A magical child, innocent yet wise beyond his years, Yunus becomes the mascot for a group of hippies in a nearby squat. Then Pembe meets a nice man and falls in love. Never mind that Adem is living with his mistress; Iskender feels compelled to save the family's honor. But 14 years later, Iskender and Esma must come to terms with past actions. Shafak turns what might seem a polemic against honor killing in lesser hands into a searing but empathetic and ultimately universal family tragedy.

COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 15, 2012

Things don't work out as planned when Pembe, who is Kurdish, follows Turkish husband Adem to London in the 1970s. When Adem deserts the family, eldest son Iskender steps in as head--and thus feels obliged to defend the family honor when Pembe begins a chaste relationship with a man named Elias. As always, Shafak plunges into the heart of cultural conflict; this internationally best-selling Turkish author is set to shake you up. For all your smart readers.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.