The Bastard of Istanbul

By: Elif Shafak

Narrated by: Laural Merlington

Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

In her second novel written in English, Elif Shafak confronts her country's violent past in a vivid and colorful tale set in both Turkey and the United States.

At its center is the "bastard" of the title, Asya, a 19-year-old woman who loves Johnny Cash and the French Existentialists, and the four sisters of the Kazanci family, who all live together in an extended household in Istanbul. They include Zehila, the zestful, headstrong youngest sister, who runs a tattoo parlor and is Asya's mother; Banu, who has newly discovered herself as a clairvoyant; Cevriye, a widowed high-school teacher; and Feride, a hypochondriac obsessed with impending disaster. Their one (estranged) brother lives in Arizona with his wife and her Armenian daughter, Armanoush. When Armanoush secretly flies to Istanbul in search of her identity, she finds the Kazanci sisters and becomes fast friends with Asya. A secret is uncovered that links the two families and ties them to the 1915 Armenian deportations and massacres.

Full of vigorous, unforgettable female characters, The Bastard of Istanbul is a bold, powerful tale that will confirm Shafak as a rising star of international fiction.

©2007 Elif Shafak (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.

Critic reviews

"Beautifully imagined....This wonderful new novel carried me away." (The Chicago Tribune)
"A saucy, witty, dramatic, and affecting tale in the spirit of novels by Amy Tan, Julia Alvarez, and Bharati Mukherjee." (New York Newsday)

Devastating Story

Well worth the journey. Ms Shafak is a marvel. Narration really brought characters to life!

Very very good!

The performer was very good, doing voices from lots of different regions. The story is really interesting and nice to listen to, ended to soon

Captivating

A Brilliant author and a
talented narrator.I greatly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it .

another wonderful story from shafak

Sad, engaging and inspiring, The Bastard of Istanbul hooked me quickly. The story is of strong women and touches apon the Armenian deportation from Turkey. If you are going to visit Turkey, read a couple of El if Shafak's novels as a wonderful introduction to the rich history and culture of this country. Perhaps you will fall in love with it, as I have.

Too jumbled

The story would have been more palatable had it not had so many different tales to carry. And poorly produced: no sooner do you hear the last word of the chapter, you also hear chapter two, or ten or whatever. No spacing between chapters.

Passed the Time Nicely

This book passed the time nicely enough during my 2 hour daily commute, but it wasn't exactly riveting. The characters were fleshed out nicely and the author captured the oddities that families endure, and learn to endear, but the end was easy enough to see coming.

Phenomenal story!

Jaw dropping ending. Beautiful story that delicately represents both Armenian and Turkish views on genocide. Focusing on unifying people for being people and finding similarities than focusing on differences. I absolutely loved it. The narrator is wonderful and kept me engaged, however, she awfully mispronounced almost everything that was either Turkish or names of places. It was distracting and surprising that she may not have had the opportunity to practice the non-English words and as a native Turkish speaker, I was even lost in some places.

A tender gift from far away

I was pleasantly surprised at the warmth and humor in this novel. The author's gift for language is extraordinary, and she manages to convey the lives of Turkish women of multiple generations in a manner that conveys all of their humanity, wit and resourcefulness. The characters remain very true to themselves throughout the book. While there isn't a sneaky "surprise" ending, this isn't meant to be a whodunit. There is a mystery to be resolved, and the story wraps up nicely. The gentle insertion of the recent histories of the Turkish and Armenian people, which plays so heavily in the lives of those people in every day life, is a boon to the average American reader.

Istanbul lives

Having been to Istanbul recently, this book brought back a lot of memories. The place is alive, in real life as in the book. The story for me was a little slow at first, the characters didn't really come to life until the second half of the book- but when they did, it was wonderful.

Awesome

Would you listen to The Bastard of Istanbul again? Why?

No, I prefer to read it

What other book might you compare The Bastard of Istanbul to and why?

Ghost House from I Allende

What does Laural Merlington bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Something new for me, different feeling than reading

If you could rename The Bastard of Istanbul, what would you call it?

no comment

Any additional comments?

Awesome book, great knowledge of human nature, life in its pure form.