The Bastard of Istanbul

A “vivid and entertaining” (Chicago Tribune) tale about the tangled history of two families, from the author of The Island of Missing Trees (a Reese's Book Club Pick)

"Zesty, imaginative . . . a Turkish version of Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club." —USA Today

As an Armenian American living in San Francisco, Armanoush feels like part of her identity is missing and that she must make a journey back to the past, to Turkey, in order to start living her life. Asya is a nineteen-year-old woman living in an extended all-female household in Istanbul who loves Jonny Cash and the French existentialists. The Bastard of Istanbul tells the story of their two families--and a secret connection linking them to a violent event in the history of their homeland. Filed with humor and understanding, this exuberant, dramatic novel is about memory and forgetting, about the need to examine the past and the desire to erase it, and about Turkey itself.

“Zesty, imaginative . . . A Turkish version of Amy Tans "The Joy Luck Club," "USA Today" Shafaks writing is seductive. . . . "The Bastard of Istanbul" portrays family as more than merely a function of genetics and fate, folding together history and fiction, the personal and the political into a thing of beauty. "Elle" [This] saucy, witty, dramatic, and affecting tale in the spirit of novels by Amy Tan, Julia Alvarez, and Bharati Mukherjee should prove irresistible to readers. . . . A grandly emphatic and spellbinding story. "New York Newsday" (cover) Beautifully imagined . . . this wonderful new novel carried me away. And reality was different when I returned. "Chicago Tribune"”

Praise for The Bastard of Istanbul:

"Zesty, imaginative . . . A Turkish version of Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club."
—USA Today

"Shafak's writing is seductive. . . . The Bastard of Istanbul portrays family as more than merely a function of genetics and fate, folding together history and fiction, the personal and the political into a thing of beauty."
—Elle

"[This] saucy, witty, dramatic, and affecting tale in the spirit of novels by Amy Tan, Julia Alvarez, and Bharati Mukherjee should prove irresistible to readers. . . . A grandly emphatic and spellbinding story."
—New York Newsday 

"Beautifully imagined . . . this wonderful new novel carried me away. And reality was different when I returned."
—Chicago Tribune

Elif Shafak is an award-winning, bestselling novelist; a champion of women's rights and freedom of expression; and the most widely read female novelist in Turkey. Her books have been translated into more than forty languages. Her novels include The Flea Palace, The Saint of Incipient Insanities, The Bastard of Istanbul, The Forty Rules of Love, and Honor, and she is also the author of a memoir, Black Milk: On the Conflicting Demands of Writing, Creativity, and Motherhood. An active political commentator, columnist, and public speaker, she lives in London and Istanbul with her family. Her website is

When "The Bastard of Istanbul" was published in Turkey, Elif Shafak was accused by nationalist lawyers of insulting Turkish identity. The charges were later dropped, and now readers in America can discover for themselves this bold and powerful tale. Populated with vibrant characters, "The Bastard of Istanbul" is the story of two families, one Turkish and one Armenian American, and their struggle to forge their unique identities against the backdrop of Turkeys violent history. Filled with humor and understanding, this exuberant, dramatic novel is about memory and forgetting, about the tension between the need to examine the past and the desire to erase it.

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