The Bastard of Istanbul
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4.1 • 11 Ratings
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- £7.99
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- £7.99
Publisher Description
Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Bastard of Istanbul written by Elif Shafak, read by Alix Dunmore.
One rainy afternoon in Istanbul, a woman walks into a doctor's surgery. 'I need to have an abortion', she announces. She is nineteen years old and unmarried. What happens that afternoon will change her life.
Twenty years later, Asya Kazanci lives with her extended family in Istanbul. Due to a mysterious family curse, all the Kaznci men die in their early forties, so it is a house of women, among them Asya's beautiful, rebellious mother Zeliha, who runs a tattoo parlour; Banu, who has newly discovered herself as clairvoyant; and Feride, a hypochondriac obsessed with impending disaster. And 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
Customer Reviews
Beautiful
Wish it never ended. Will miss Asia and the aunties! And the cat!
Not quite impressed tbh.
Deeply cultural with its diversity. The main story itself is rather slower-paced and not very happening. Could have provided more depth to Asiya and Armanoush's characters, showing how they blossomed and bloomed into what they wanted to be with all the determination that was promised in the beginning. A bit disappointing to realize the author just left them (Asiya & Armanoush) in their present states and revealed to us no further than their existing lives. The author spent more time describing the details of everyone's personality traits rather than moving forward with their future. Still a very captivating read, that's why I give it a 3 ✨