Product Description

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 is to change her life, and the lives of everyone around her. Twenty years later, Asya Kazanci lives with her extended family in Istanbul. Due to a mysterious family curse all the men die by age 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 and Turkey's turbulent past begin to emerge.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24240 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-24
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Review
An astonishingly rich and lively story ... handled with an enchantingly light touch' Kirkus Reviews 'A brave and passionate novel' Paul Theroux 'Tremendous exuberance ... I do like a writer with a purpose' Margaret Forster 'An astonishingly rich and lively story ... handled with an enchantingly light touch' Kirkus (starred review) 'Overflows with a kitchen sink's worth of zany characters ... an entertaining and insightful ensemble novel that posits the universality of family, culture and coincidence' Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Metro
Infused with sharp wit, gentle irony and a sense of mysticism ... handled with compassion and a deftly humorous touch

New Statesman
Sometimes comical, sometimes surprising ... Shafak's talent and subtle humour have made her descriptions so vivid