If you ever google Elif Shafak this is what you will find:
Elif Shafak is a leading British- Turkish novelist, essayist, and political activist. Apart from her bestselling books like The Forty Rules of Love, The Bastard of Istanbul, The Architect’s Apprentice and 10 Minutes 38 seconds in This Strange World, she has a total of 21 books to her name. She is the recipient of many prestigious international honours. Two of her books 10 Minutes 38 seconds in This Strange World, and The Island of Missing Trees, were shortlisted for the Booker prize 2019, and the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2022, respectively.
But this was not the reason I began reading her books. A decade ago, I found myself seated next to a young girl reading Shafak’s most popular book The Forty Rules of Love, during a flight. Time was a luxury for me in those days, reading books more so. My eight-month-old daughter, ensured that. Either I asked a lot of questions about the book or I had my eyes glued to the pages she was turning; I do not remember the details. What I do remember is the girl leaving me with a smile and an advice before deplaning – You must buy the book. You must read her. She’s good.
And here I accept I am adept at embarrassing myself at random public places. I am a natural at that.
Moving on. I almost forgot about it for another couple of years until I found myself in a bookstore staring at the book in the bestseller section. I bought it and read it with great expectations. I was not disappointed. The novel is a beautiful window to a contemporary American mother’s journey to break away from her mundane, colourless life to find love. It is also a story of a larger-than-life friendship between a bohemian dervish and the Sufi poet Rumi in 13th century.
At the end, I realised what the young girl from the flight said was true.
Here’s a quick look at my fondness for her work.
Titles I have read so far:
The Forty Rules of Love, Honour, The Bastard of Istanbul, The Island of Missing Trees, 10 Minutes 38 seconds in This Strange World, Black Milk on Motherhood and Writing
Titles on my desk waiting to be read:
Three Daughters of Eve
My favourite/ Recommendation:
The Island of Missing Trees
Please find the link to the book review here
Why do I read her work?
In one of her interviews the author states, “As a writer I am not only interested in stories and storytelling, I am also drawn to silences – and the silenced. There is a part of me that wants to understand where are the silences in my society and who are the silenced.”
After reading several of her works, I can vouch for her words because I see that happening in all her books. And that is probably the reason I feel so drawn to her work. Her intent of creating not just a powerful piece of literature but literature that brings to the fore the struggles and silences of women across the globe, is commendable. I see her writing as an act of courage because her stories do raise some poignant questions, and challenge the norms. I read her because she is a brilliant storyteller.
Why should you read her?
Because she writes about everyone- women, men, flora and fauna, and the universe. All her books are meticulously researched, splendidly narrated, and always carry an element of intrigue. Also, because her writing digs deeper into the aftermath of war, atrocities on women, sexual and ethnic identities, and mental health, without being overwhelming. The emotion of empathy is at the heart of her stories. Her books reek of truth.
“When I was seven years old, we lived in a green house. One of our neighbours, a talented tailor, would often beat his wife. In the evenings we listened to the shouts, the cries, the swearing. In the mornings we went on with our lives as usual. The entire neighbourhood pretended not to have heard, not to have seen.
This novel is dedicated to those who hear, those who see.”
- Dedication Page from her book HONOUR
In her book Honour, Shafak has written about a family broken apart by traditions, male dominance and violence, silent women and the powerful undercurrent of love. As a reader you feel pained, and delighted in equal measure.
Shafak’s world is lively, and passionate. It can be gore, and painful at the same time. This dichotomy in her works lends her a unique voice. Another fascinating aspect of her work is how skilfully she handles the two person POV. Most of her books have multiple protagonists. But that is not a hindrance to the reading experience. On the contrary, it helps builds tension in the story, and keeps the element of intrigue intact till the very end.
The Island of Missing Trees is a thriving example of this. The meticulously written tale travels back and forth in time between London and Cyprus, with a fig tree along with a teenage girl as protagonists.
Her book Black Milk on Motherhood and Writing – is an intimate memoir that delves into the darkest deepest emotions of a new mother, the ugly truth of post-partum depression, along with some eye-opening revelations about several known and unknown women in literature. The most heartbreaking of them all was the story of Leo- Tolstoy and her largely unknown wife Sophia Andreevna Bers. While we all know War and Peace as one of Tolstoy’s greatest works; we do not know that not only did Sophia keep notes for War and Peace, she rewrote the entire draft seven times over. She bore him about a dozen or more children, of which only eight survived. Tolstoy eventually left her one day, throwing her off his will.
That said, I am excited to read her latest release There are Rivers in The Sky
P.S. I hope I have presented my case well and given you enough reasons to add her books to your reading list.
Thank you Blogchatter for the lovely TBR challenge. I loved writing this piece about one of my favourite authors.
PICTURE CREDITS: www.youngwriteraward.com