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The Bastard of Istanbul

The powerful novel about family secrets from the award-winning author of The Island of Missing Trees

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The Bastard of Istanbul

By: Elif Shafak
Narrated by: Alix Dunmore
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Brought to you by Penguin.

A gripping and beautiful novel from Elif Shafak, Booker-shortlisted author of The Island of Missing Trees and 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World

One rainy afternoon in Istanbul a woman walks into a doctor's surgery. 'I want an abortion,' she announces. She is nineteen years old, and unmarried. What happens that afternoon will change her life, and the lives of everyone around her.

Twenty years later, Asya Kazanci lives with her extended family in Istanbul. A mysterious curse causes all the men to die by the age of 41, so it is a house of women, among them her beautiful, rebellious mother, Zeliha, clairvoyant Auntie Banu and bar-brawl widow, Auntie Cevriye. But when Asya’s Armenian-American cousin Armanoush comes to stay, long hidden family secrets connected with Turkey's turbulent past begin to emerge.

'Wonderfully magical, incredible, breathtaking...will have you gasping with disbelief in the last few pages' Sunday Express

'A beautiful book, the finest I have read about Turkey' Irish Times

'Heartbreaking...the beauty of Islam pervades Shafak's book' Vogue

© Elif Shafak 2007 (P) Penguin Audio 2019

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Amazing story, educating of a topic that is very much forgotten and made forgotten by those in power today and throughout the second half of the last century. Lot to learn for both sides but mainly to learn of the real fate and lives of the millions affected by the wheels turned by the majority ignoring the minority.
Wonderful narration! Thank you!

Touching and soul forming

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I love Elif Shafak's writing, its mix of history, culture, humour, social commentary with its dark twists and all-pervading sense of timeless sisterhood.
Although I found this book slow to start, with a mildly irritating myriad of indistinguishable names to grapple with, it drew me in and kept me rapt for its shocking conclusion.
The downside for me was the speed of narration. Elif Shafak's writing is so beautiful you want to savour it, and I found I was missing the best of it just trying to keep up as the narrator thundered along like a steam train. It was rather more difficult trying to concentrate on all the non-English names, to keep up with who is who which made it all a bit stressful in the beginning. I'm glad I persevered, though because I find this author's novels stay with me long after I've finished them and challenge the way I view other societies.

Beautifully written as ever

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Loved it, Elif Shafak is amazing, check out her Desert island disc interview and TED talks

Great book from a great author

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I didn’t like this book I loved it. I’d previously listened to Forty Shades of Love, and was a bit lukewarm warm about it. This book blew me away. 35 years ago I spent a year in Turkey teaching English, whilst there I wanted to learn about Turkish history, but it was impossible the Kemalists had drawn a line under history after the war and were starting with a clean sheet. History was heresy. I left frustrated, I realise through Elif that stories are the way to bring our pasts and their consequences to life. She knitted the lives of the many characters together perfectly, all were incomplete haunted by hollows they couldn’t comprehend, until the end when the reader is rewarded an amazing slow ah haaaa moment when all is revealed and the dance of the seven veils reaches its conclusion. Next on my list is the Architects apprentice I can’t wait.

The Dickensian style of writing

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excellent storytelling, beautifully written - interesting intertwined characters - amusing at times, very sad at times - excellent performance

Brilliant

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