The Bastard of Istanbul Audiobook By Elif Shafak cover art

The Bastard of Istanbul

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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

 City Life Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Urban Women's Fiction World Literature
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I really enjoyed listening to this book. Good story, flows well with beautifully written descriptions. I am definitely a fan of Elif Shafak, and perhaps her translator too. Alix Dunmore did a really good job differentiating each character in the book.

Really lovely!

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I acquired this book not knowing what to expect. The magic of Istanbul, families interconnected by a complicated and long history, characters shaped with care and love, masterfully narrated…you can’t g wrong with this book.

Wow

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Too many distracting details in an other wise intriguing story. Taught me so much about Armenians and the Ottoman Empire.

Distracting details

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Such a well written and interesting book, a must read! You won’t be able to put it down!

Amazing

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With the touch of a lyrical fairy tale but modern and historical, sited in Istanbul and the Armenian community in the US. A warm voice of a nuanced outsuder.

Lyrical, feminine, oriental

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