The Bastard of Istanbul
$22.54
- Paperback
368 pages
- Release Date
3 September 2019
Summary
A breath-taking novel about a violent secret that threatens the peace of two interwoven families - now a Penguin Essential
One rainy afternoon in Istanbul a woman walks into a doctor’s surgery. ‘I want an abortion’, she announces. She is nineteen years old, and unmarried. What happens that afternoon is to change her life, and the lives of everyone around her.
Twenty years later, Asya Kazanci lives with her extended family in Istanbul. Due to a mysterious family curse all the m…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780241986448 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 0241986443 |
| Author: | Elif Shafak |
| Publisher: | Penguin Books Ltd |
| Imprint: | Penguin Books Ltd |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 368 |
| Release Date: | 3 September 2019 |
| Weight: | 201g |
| Dimensions: | 22mm x 112mm x 181mm |
| Series: | Penguin Essentials |
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Critics Review
A brave and passionate novel
A brave and passionate novel * Paul Theroux *
Tremendous exuberance … I do like a writer with a purpose * Margaret Forster *
An astonishingly rich and lively story … handled with an enchantingly light touch’ Kirkus Reviews
Overflows with a kitchen sink’s worth of zany characters … an entertaining and insightful ensemble novel that posits the universality of family, culture and coincidence – (starred review) * Publishers Weekly *
Unquestionably an ambitious book, exuberant and teeming * Guardian *
Heartbreaking… the beauty of Islam pervades Shafak’s book * Vogue *
Elif Shafak
Elif Shafak is an award-winning British Turkish novelist, whose work has been translated into fifty-seven languages.
The author of twenty books, fourteen of which are novels, she was awarded the Halldór Laxness Prize for her contribution to the art of storytelling. Shafak’s previous novel, There Are Rivers in the Sky, was the UK’s bestselling literary hardback novel of 2025, selling over 500,000 copies.
Widely read in many countries around the world, her writing has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the RSL Ondaatje Prize, the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, and Prix Femina Etranger, amongst others. She was also nominated for ‘Author of the Year’ at the British Book Awards.
Elif Shafak was appointed President of the Royal Society of Literature in 2025. She was awarded the British Academy President’s Medal for bravely tackling sensitive subjects and for her body of work, which demonstrates an incredible intercultural range.
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