Internationally bestselling Turkish author Elif Shafak's new novel is a dramatic tale of families, love, and misunderstandings that follows the destinies of twin sisters born in a Kurdish village. While Jamila stays to become a midwife, Pembe follows her Turkish husband, Adem, to London, where they hope to make new lives for themselves and their children.
In London, they face a choice: stay loyal to the old traditions or try their best to fit in. After Adem abandons his family, Iskender, the eldest son, must step in and become the one who will not let any shame come to the family name. And when Pembe begins a chaste affair with a man named Elias, Iskender will discover that you could love someone with all your heart and yet be ready to hurt them.
Just published to great acclaim in England, Honor is a powerful, gripping exploration of guilt and innocence, loyalty and betrayal, and the trials of the immigrant, as well as the love and heartbreak that too often tear families apart.
"Shafak turns what might seem a polemic against honor killing in lesser hands into a searing but empathetic and ultimately universal family tragedy." - Kirkus
"Calls to mind The Color Purple in its fierceness of its engagement with male violence and its determination to see its characters to a better place. But Shafak is closer to Isabel Allende in spirit, confidence, and charm. Her portrayal of Muslim cultures, both traditional and globalizing, is as hopeful as it is politically sophisticated." - The Guardian (UK)
"Shafak is an unflinching writer…this is vivid storytelling…a gripping exploration of the darkest aspects of faith and love." - The Telegraph (UK)
"This is an extraordinarily skillfully crafted and ambitious narrative, with Shakespearian twists and turns, omens and enigmas, prophecies and destinies fulfilled …Shafak joins writers such as Hanif Kureishi, Zadie Smith, Monica Ali…who offer us fictional glimpses of London's Others." - The Independent (UK)
"[A] stunning novel…exotic, evocative and utterly gripping." - The Times (UK)
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Elif Shafak was born in Strasbourg, France, in 1971. She is an award-winning novelist and the most widely read woman writer in Turkey. Her books have been translated into more than thirty languages. Shafak has published ten books, seven of which are novels. She writes in both Turkish and English. Shafak blends Western and Eastern traditions of storytelling, bringing out the multiple stories of minorities, immigrants, women subcultures and global souls. Her work draws on diverse cultures and literary traditions, as well as deep interest in history, philosophy, oral culture, and cultural politics.
Shafak's writing breaks down categories, clichés, and cultural ghettoes, bringing out the multiple stories of minorities, immigrants, women, subcultures and global souls....
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