From one of Turkey's most acclaimed and outspoken writers, a novel about the
tangled histories of two families

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 nineteen-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: 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.

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