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The Bastard of Istanbul

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The Bastard of Istanbul

By: Elif Shafak
Narrated by: Alix Dunmore
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About this listen

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Bastard of Istanbul by Edif Shafak.

One rainy afternoon in Istanbul, a woman walks into a doctor's surgery. 'I need to have an abortion', she announces. She is 19 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 40s, 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.

Orange Prize for Fiction, Long-listed

©2019 Elif Shafak (P)2019 Penguin Audio City Life Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Urban Women's Fiction World Literature Heartfelt Thought-Provoking

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Critic reviews

"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)
All stars
Most relevant  
I loved all the characters, the city, the food, the cafe. aAnd of course the story of 2 intertwinning families through the generations. wonderful.

loved it, I now really want to travel.to Istanbul.

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Elif Shafak’s stories are spellbinding and take you to another place. Alix Dunmore’s tellings transport you to that other place.

Amazing book.

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I am in awe of Elif Shefak for being able to create such a powerful story.

Cleverly weaving together the stories of different families and cultures.
Raising so many issues, as we follow parallel national and personal themes that raise similar questions. Should the children be protected from the crimes of their parents or should they face them and acknowledge the shame and horror. Sharing the burden of that knowledge between all involved in their different ways?
I have American Armenian relatives so for me it felt even more relevant and such an important book about past, present and individual and collective identity and trauma.

I really liked the narration. she brought the different characters to life

I loved it and recommend everyone reads this book

Wow!!!

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I lost track of the history part of the story a bit, too many characters and back stories, none of which were really engaging enough. Also, the narrator read it SO fast! I had to listen at 0.7 x speed on audible just to keep up. Not really for me.

Not for me

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I loved the language and all the different characters, the history, the themes of flood and water, all of it.

Beautifully read tale of family trauma and freedom

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I love the setting in Turkey. The daughter calling her mother Auntie. The ending of Mustafa. Brilliant book!

The stories of each character

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beautiful story about a Turkish and Armenian American family and how they are linked. about the consequences of fate

a heartbreaking family story

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Amazing story, educating of a topic that is very much forgotten and made forgotten by those in power today and throughout the second half of the last century. Lot to learn for both sides but mainly to learn of the real fate and lives of the millions affected by the wheels turned by the majority ignoring the minority.
Wonderful narration! Thank you!

Touching and soul forming

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struggled to follow the story
I learnt enough history to keep going but barely made it through.
might skip this author altogether

it was a hard listen...

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I loved the story, couldn’t stop and wanted to finish! Loved how two worlds were to entwined

Lovely story

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