The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak (2007)
The Bastard of Istanbul is the first book that I have read that addresses the Turkish massacre of Armenians in 1915 vis-à-vis Turkey. The Turkish government calls the event “relocations”, and makes it a crime to speak out against the murders of a million Armenians. Indeed, author Elif Shafak faced trial in Turkey for writing this novel which deemed the sympathetic depiction of the (fictional) Armenian characters to be “insulting” to Turkey.
This novel focuses on two families whose lives ultimately intersect. The novel begins when 19-year old Zeliha contemplates having an abortion. She is a wild, modern, unmarried, young Turkish teenager living in Istanbul, who has found herself pregnant. Ultimately, she does not proceed with the abortion, giving birth to Asya. Her family seems to take her pregnancy in stride. Zeliha lives with her mother and three eccentric sisters. The story then jumps 19 years to the young Asya, now a rebellious teen.
Meanwhile, in Arizona, Rose married and divorced an Armenian man and gave birth to Armanoush. Shortly after her divorce, she meets the Turkish Mustafa, brother to Zeliha. Partly to provoke her former Armenian in-laws, she marries him and, together they raise Armanoush, who is now caught between the worlds of being an American Armenian and an American Turk.
To find her Armenian roots, Armanoush, unbeknownst to her parents, secretly travels to Istanbul to stay with her stepfather’s family. Armanoush’s great-grandfather, Hovhannes Stamboulian, an Amenian written and intellectual, was kidnapped and killed by the Ottoman Turkish authorities near the beginning of the massacre. Armanoush seeks to learn more about this missing chapter of her family’s past.
Mustafa left Istanbul years ago and has not visited his family in years. He has a dark secret that is too troublesome for him to acknowledge. When he learns that his step-daughter is visiting and living with his family, he is forced to return to Istanbul and face his demons.
When all is revealed, the ending is somewhat unsatisfying. Still, this book will inform readers of the troubling chapter in Turkish history. The novel stresses, however, that the Armenian massacres occurred before the establishment of modern Turkey in 1923. Can history so blithely be dismissed?
Read: January 14, 2010
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