The Bastard of Istanbul (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780143112716)

A "vivid and entertaining" (Chicago Tribune) tale about the tangled history of two families, from the author of The Island of Missing Trees (a Reese's Book Club Pick)

"Zesty, imaginative . . . a Turkish version of Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club." --USA Today

As an Armenian American living in San Francisco, Armanoush feels like part of her identity is missing and that she must make a journey back to the past, to Turkey, in order to start living her life. Asya is a nineteen-year-old woman living in an extended all-female household in Istanbul who loves Jonny Cash and the French existentialists. The Bastard of Istanbul tells the story of their two families--and a secret connection linking them to a violent event in the history of their homeland. Filed with humor and understanding, this exuberant, dramatic novel is about memory and forgetting, about the need to examine the past and the desire to erase it, and about Turkey itself.

Author: Elif Shafak
ISBN-10: 0143112716
ISBN-13: 9780143112716
Publisher: Penguin Books
Language: English
Published: 02/01/2008
Pages: 368
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.71lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.50w x 0.70d

Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 02/17/2008 pg. 24