The Bastard of Istanbul - Elif Shafak

Are we the end product of our familial history or the beginning of something new? Armanush has no doubt that only the first assumption can be true, Asya doesn't really care, but if she were forced to have a standpoint, she'd opt for the latter. Why should she care for past generations if she doesn't even know who her father is? She's the youngest of an all female household in Istanbul composed of her great-grandmother, her grandmother, three aunts and her mother Zeliha whose illegitimate child (bastard) she is and who she also calls 'aunt'. There is a brother, the child before Zeliha, but because all men in the family die a premature death, he's ...  Read the complete review