Elif Shafak

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A REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB PICKSHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA NOVEL AWARD 2021A rich, magical new novel from the Booker-shortlisted author of 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World - now a top ten Sunday Times bestsellerIt is 1974 on the island of Cyprus. Two teenagers, from opposite sides of a divided land, meet at a tavern in the city they both call home. The tavern is the only place that Kostas, who is Greek and Christian, and Defne, who is Turkish and Muslim, can meet, in secret, hidden beneath the blackened beams from which hang garlands of garlic, chilli peppers and wild herbs.This is where one can find the best food in town, the best music, the best wine. But there is something else to the place: it makes one forget, even if for just a few hours, the world outside and its immoderate sorrows. In the centre of the tavern, growing through a cavity in the roof, is a fig tree.This tree will witness their hushed, happy meetings, their silent, surreptitious departures; and the tree will be there when the war breaks out, when the capital is reduced to rubble, when the teenagers vanish and break apart. Decades later in north London, sixteen-year-old Ada Kazantzakis has never visited the island where her parents were born. Desperate for answers, she seeks to untangle years of secrets, separation and silence.The only connection she has to the land of her ancestors is a Ficus Carica growing in the back garden of their home. In The Island of Missing Trees, prizewinning author Elif Shafak brings us a rich, magical tale of belonging and identity, love and trauma, nature, and, finally, renewal. 'What a wonderful read! This book moved me to tears...

La nueva novela de la finalista del Premio Booker, con más de 300.000 lectores: "Preciosa y desgarradora" (Margaret Atwood) "Maravillosa". Mary Beard * "Una voz única en la literatura mundial". Ian McEwan * "Un libro que te transforma". Naomi Klein * "Shafak crea con sus palabras un nuevo hogar para los lectores". Colum McCann NOMINADA AL WOMEN'S PRIZE Y AL ONDAATJE PRIZEFINALISTA DE LOS PREMIOS COSTA BOOKSELECCIONADA EN EL CLUB DE LECTURA DE REESE WITHERSPOON En un convulso 1974, mientras el ejercito turco ocupa el norte de Chipre, Kostas, un griego cristiano, y Defne, una turca musulmana, se reunen en secreto bajo las vigas ennegrecidas de la taberna La Higuera Feliz, donde cuelgan ristras de ajos, cebollas y pimientos. Alli, lejos del fragor de la guerra, crece a traves de una cavidad en el techo una higuera, testigo del amor de los dos jovenes, pero tambien de sus desencuentros, de la destruccion de Nicosia y de la tragica separacion de los amantes. Decadas mas tarde, en el norte de Londres, Ada Kazantzakis acaba de perder a su madre. A sus dieciseis años, nunca ha visitado la isla en la que nacieron sus padres y esta desesperada por desenredar años de secretos, division

It feels like the world is falling apart. So how do we keep hold of our optimism? How do we nurture the parts of ourselves that hope, trust and believe in something better? And how can we stay sane in this world of division?In this beautifully written and illuminating polemic, Booker Prize nominee Elif Shafak reflects on our age of pessimism, when emotions guide and misguide our politics, and misinformation and fear are the norm.A tender, uplifting plea for optimism, Shafak draws on her own memories and delves into the power of stories to reveal how writing can nurture democracy, tolerance and progress. And in the process, she answers one of the most urgent questions of our time.

Ella Rubinstein has a husband, three teenage children, and a pleasant home. Everything that should make her confident and fulfilled. Yet there is an emptiness at the heart of Ellas life - an emptiness once filled by love. So when Ella reads a manuscript about the thirteenth-century Sufi poet Rumi and Shams of Tabriz, and his forty rules of life and love, she is shocked out of herself. Turning her back on her family she embarks on a journey to meet the mysterious author of this work. It is a quest infused with Sufi mysticism and verse, taking Ella and us into an exotic world where faith and love are heartbreakingly explored...

Una novela que cabalga entre lo domestico y lo histórico y que evoca los colores, los aromas y la magia de las calles de Estambul "Esta magnífica novela me llevó a un país lejano, y la realidad era muy distinta cuando volvi".The Chicago Tribune Mas que una ciudad, Estambul parece un gran barco de ruta incierta, cargado de pasajeros de distintas nacionalidades, lenguas y religiones. Esa es la imagen que acompaña a la joven Armanoush, que viaja desde Arizona para visitar por primera vez la ciudad y descubrir sus origenes. Lo que la joven aun no sabe es que su familia armenia y la de su padrastro turco estuvieron ligadas en el pasado, y que la vida en comun de los dos pueblos fue un dia apacible. Bien pronto Armanoush conocera a ese clan peculiar, donde solo hay mujeres porque los hombres tuvieron a bien morir jovenes o irse lejos para olvidar sus pecados. En el centro del retrato destaca Zeliha, la mujer rebelde que un dia se quedo embarazada y decidio no abortar. Fue asi como nacio Asya, que ahora tiene diecinueve años, y pronto sera amiga de Armanoush. Completan la foto de familia otras señoras de armas tomar, que entretienen su tiempo cocinando, recordando viejos tiempos y encarandose al futuro de su pais, cada

La historia de una familia kurdo-turca que se traslada a Londres en los años 70 sirve de motor narrativo para contar el difícil encaje de tradiciones distintas.Nacieron del mismo vientre y casi al mismo tiempo: Pembe y Jamila eran gemelas, hijas de una familia numerosa que vivia en un pequeño pueblo de Kurdistan, pero la voluntad del padre las separo y llevo sus vidas por caminos distintos.En 1970 Pembe y su marido Adem se trasladan a Londres, en busca de un mejor destino para sus hijos Alex, Esma y Yunus, dejando a Jamila en el pueblo, aunque el matrimonio esta destinado al fracaso desde el principio. Harta de soportar un marido infiel y jugador, Pembe se aleja poco a poco de Adem y encuentra finalmente a un hombre con quien compartir su destino, pero Alex entiende esta nueva relacion de la madre como una enfrenta al honor de la familia y toma cartas en el asunto, sin darse cuenta de que esta cometiendo un error que marcara a la familia para siempre.De un pequeño pueblo de Kurdistan a Londres, pasando por Estambul y Abu Dhabi, Elif Shafak ha urdido una trama apasionante y polemica para su nueva novela. Con ella vamos a recorrer los hilos de una historia donde la tradicion de Oriente y Occidente muestran su lado mas oscuro: cuando se habla y se actua en nombre de un honor que ya no tiene dueño ni sentido, se anda en la desgracia, y los cuerpos de Pembe y Jamila ahi estan para contestar a quien pregunte.Cuando tenia siete años, uno de nuestros vecinos, sastre de profesion, a menudo pegaba a su esposa. Por la noche, todo el vecindario oia los gritos, los golpes, los insultos, pero por la mañana cada cual se ocupaba de lo suyo, como si nadie hubiera visto ni oido nada... Esta novela esta dedicada a los que quieren oir y ver.Elif Shafak

Mariée a un riche promoteur, Peri assiste a un grand dîner dans une somptueuse villa du Bosphore. Au cours du repas, chacun commente les événements dramatiques que traverse la Turquie pendant qu'elle repense a sa jeunesse, a l'affrontement entre son père laïc et sa mère très pieuse, puis étudiante a Oxford entre ses deux amies : Shirin, Iranienne émancipée, et Mona, musulmane pratiquante et féministe.Elle se remémore aussi sa rencontre avec Azur, le flamboyant professeur de philosophie qui les a réunies. Cette soirée pas comme les autres fera ressortir les contradictions de la femme d'aujourd'hui et les impasses dans lesquelles se débat une société coincée entre tradition et modernité.Elif Shafak signe une satire violente de la bourgeoisie stambouliote comme du fanatisme religieux, également aveugles aux aspirations d'une jeunesse en quête de vérité et de liberté.

Istanbul, XVIe siècle. Le jeune Jahan, arrivé clandestinement, évolue dans la ville en compagnie d'un éléphant blanc destiné a être offert au sultan Soliman le Magnifique. Il rencontre des courtisans, des gitans, des dompteurs, mais aussi la belle Mihrimah. Un jour, il attire l'attention de Sinan, l'architecte du roi

'My mother died twice. I promised myself I would not let her story be forgotten...'Leaving her twin sister behind, Pembe leaves Turkey for love - following her husband Adem to London. There the Topraks hope to make new lives for themselves and their children. Yet, no matter how far they travel, the traditions and beliefs the Topraks left behind stay with them - carried in the blood.Their eldest is the boy Iskender, who remembers Turkey and feels betrayal deeper than most. His sister is Esma, who is loyal and true despite the pain and heartache. And, lastly, Yunus, who was born in London, and is shy and different.Trapped by the mistakes of the past, the Toprak children find their lives shattered and transformed by a brutal act of murder . . .A powerful novel set in Turkey and London in the 1970s, Honour explores pain and loss, loyalty and betrayal, the trials of the immigrant, the clash of tradition and modernity, as well as the love and heartbreak that too often tears families apart.

Ella Rubenstein is forty years old and unhappily married when she takes a job as a reader for a literary agent - and suddenly her life is transformed. Her first assignment is to read a novel about the ancient Sufi mystic, Rumi, who was transformed by the whirling dervish into a passionate poet and advocate of love. Slowly she realizes that his thirteenth-century life is starting to mirror her own, and in doing so it opens up exciting opportunities for her to embrace the dervish's timeless message for herself. This is a mesmerizing novel about finding love and inspiration in the most unlikely of places

'I didn't say anything. I didn't return his smiles. I looked at him in the wide mirror in front of where I was sitting. He grew uncomfortable and avoided my eyes. I hate those who think fat people are stupid.' An obese woman and her lover, a dwarf, are sick of being stared at wherever they go, and so decide to reverse roles. The man goes out wearing make up and the woman draws a moustache on her face. But while the woman wants to hide away from the world, the man meets the stares from passers-by head on, compiling his 'Dictionary of Gazes' to explore the boundaries between appearance and reality. Intertwined with the story of a bizarre freak-show organized in Istanbul in the 1880s, The Gaze considers the damage which can be inflicted by our simple desire to look at others

Bonbon Palace was once a stately apartment block in Istanbul. Now it is a sadly dilapidated home to ten wildly different individuals and their families. There's a womanizing, hard-drinking academic with a penchant for philosophy; a 'clean freak' and her lice-ridden daughter; a lapsed Jew in search of true love; and a charmingly naïve mistress whose shadowy past lurks in the building. When the garbage at Bonbon Palace is stolen, a mysterious sequence of events unfolds that result in a soul-searching quest for truth

Elif Shafak, que triunfó en 2009 con La bastarda de Estambul, entrega ahora esta espléndida novela, que recrea el esplendor del Estambul del siglo XVI a través de los ojos de un joven que se convertira en un arquitecto de renombre.Debajo de una piedra enterre un secreto. Ha llovido mucho desde entonces, pero todavia debe de estar alli. Me pregunto si algun dia alguien lo encontrara... y llegara al centro del universo.Hay ciudades donde las piedras encierran la historia del mundo entero y pasiones que viven de nuestra imaginacion. Jahan sabia que su amor solo podria dibujarse en el aire, pero eso poco le importo. El joven habia llegado de la India con solo doce años, a principios del siglo XVI, para trabajar al servicio del gran arquitecto Sinan y construir los mejores palacios y mezquitas de Estambul. Llevaba consigo a un fiel amigo, un elefante blanco que encandilo a la corte, y en los exoticos jardines de la mansion imperial Jahan conocio a Mihrimah, la hija del sultan.Los consejos de Sinan, la mirada complice del elefante y el deseo por la hermosa mujer siguieron al hombre durante muchos años, mientras iba juntando proyectos y recuerdos. Ahora, poco antes de morir, el viejo Jahan nos cuenta por fin su historia: sabremos como vivio su amor y como guardo los secretos aprendidos de su maestro, unas palabras que nos llevaran al centro del universo, ese lugar donde todo es posible, incluso la felicidad...Una novela para los que aman, una novela para los que nunca se cansan de aprender.Reseña:Un cuento magico y colorista.Camilla Parker Bowles,Telva

In her second novel written in English (The Saint of Incipient Insanities was the first), Turkish novelist Shafak tackles Turkish national identity and the Armenian "question" in her signature style. In a novel that overflows with a kitchen sink's worth of zany characters, women are front and center: Asya Kazanci, an angst-ridden 19-year-old Istanbulite is the bastard of the title; her beautiful, rebellious mother, Zeliha (who intended to have an abortion), has raised Asya among three generations of complicated and colorful female relations (including religious clairvoyant Auntie Banu and bar-brawl widow, Auntie Cevriye). The Kazanci men either die young or take a permanent hike like Mustafa, Zeliha's beloved brother who immigrated to America years ago. Mustafa's Armenian-American stepdaughter, Armanoush, who grew up on her family's stories of the 1915 genocide, shows up in Istanbul looking for her roots and for vindication from her new Turkish family. The Kazanci women lament Armanoush's family's suffering, but have no sense of Turkish responsibility for it; Asya's boho cohorts insist there was no genocide at all. As the debate escalates, Mustafa arrives in Istanbul, and a long-hidden secret connecting the histories of the two families is revealed. Shafak was charged with "public denigration of Turkishness" when the novel was published in Turkey earlier this year (the charges were later dropped). She incorporates a political taboo into an entertaining and insightful ensemble novel, one that posits the universality of family, culture and coincidence. (Jan. 22)