Honour

Description

A powerful, moving and shocking novel about a clash of cultures that tears a family apart 'My mother died twice. I promised myself I would not let her story be forgotten' And so begins the story of Esma a young Kurdish woman in London trying to come to terms with the terrible murder her brother has committed. Esma tells the story of her family stretching back three generations; back to her grandmother and the births of her mother and Aunt in a village on the edge of the Euphrates. Named Pembe and Jamila, meaning Pink and Beautiful rather than the names their mother wanted to call them, Destiny and Enough, the twin girls have very different futures ahead of them all of which will end in tragedy on a street in East London in 1978. A powerful, brilliant and moving account of murder, love and family set in a Kurdish village, Istanbul and London

Elif Shafak is the acclaimed author of nine novels including The Bastard of Istanbul and Honour, and is the most widely read female writer in Turkey. Her work has been translated into over forty languages and she regularly contributes to publications including The New York Times, Guardian and Time magazine. Elif has been longlisted for the Orange Prize, the Baileys Prize and the IMPAC Dublin Award, and shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. She lives in London and can be found at www.elifshafak.com.

A powerful book; thoughtful, provoking and compassionate * Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat * Fascinating and gripping - a wonderful novel * Rosamund Lupton, author of Sister * Elif Shafak has woven with masterful care and compassion one immigrant family's heartbreaking story - a story nurtured in the terrible silences between men and women * Sarah Blake, author of The Postmistress * Honour is a powerful tale of family connection and heartbreak, offering us insight and delight in equal measure . . . an exquisite and deep rendering of the fullness of life. * Aurelie Sheehan, author of The Anxiety of Everyday Objects * [Elif Shafak] joins writers such as Hanif Kureishi, Zadie Smith, Monica Ali, Aamer Hussein, Andrea Levy, Hanan al-Shakyh and Leila Aboulela, who offer us fictional glimpses of London's Others * The Independent * An honour killing is at the centre of this stunning novel . . . Exotic, evocative and utterly gripping * The Times * Lushly and memorably magic-realist . . . This is an extraordinarily skilfully crafted and ambitious narrative * The Independent * Shafak treats an important, absorbing subject in a fast-paced, internationally familiar style that will make it accessible to a wide readership * Sunday Times * Compelling -- Mariella Frostrup