The Bastard of Istanbul

By: Elif Shafak

Narrated by: Laural Merlington

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 .

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.

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.

great story, very irritating narrator

a well thought of story that is full of culture and history. As for the narrator (with all due respect), she got me so irritated listening to her trying to imitate foreign accents, imitate male voices, pronouncing Turkish and Armenians names, ethnic food...etc. For some reason the narrator stopped using her fake and irritating accent for people in Istanbul. That was a great relief for my ears but made me wonder why she chose to talk in a heavy accent reading speeches by Armenian Americans in the US. I am not sure how many more "Anti Banu" phrase i could handle pronouncing the Banu in a such an irritating way!!!

Beautiful Book, Poor Narration

If you could sum up The Bastard of Istanbul in three words, what would they be?

Beautifully written book that grasped my attention from the very first page and kept me engaged until the end. I was left wanting more at the end.

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

I can compare this book to And The Mountains Echoed. It is written in much the same style, covering generations and periods of war.

How could the performance have been better?

The story carried it self, otherwise I would be very annoyed by the narrator. Her pronunciation of many significant Turkish words were particularly cringe worthy. I can say this from experience as one of the characters is given my own name and I had to bare it being pronounced wrong and in various ways through out the book.

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

I would not pick any other name, but if I had to choose...The Women of Istanbul

Any additional comments?

I felt the last chapter was condensed and the ending left me wanting more.

Love this book!

Got it to learn more about the Turks and Armenians and it did give some history but was such a good read with unexpected twists!!