10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World

Our continuing journey of reading around the world sees us setting off to Turkey.

Elif Shafak’s remarkable book was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2019 and is described as an intensely beautiful and haunting novel about the wonder of life, the mystery of death and the strange space in between.

For Leila, each minute after her death brings a sensuous memory: the taste of spiced goat stew, sacrificed by her father to celebrate the long-awaited birth of a son; the bubbling vats of lemon and sugar women use to wax their legs while men attend mosque; the scent of cardamom coffee that Leila shares with a handsome student in the brothel where she works. Each memory, too, recalls the friends she made at each key moment in her life – friends who are now desperately trying to find her.

Elif Shafak is an award-winning British-Turkish novelist. She writes in both Turkish and English. We expect to be treated to an appreciation of Turkish culture with the reading of this book and we look forward to reviewing this novel together in our MBS Reading Group.

Contact us if you would like to join the session.