There is a personal theme of the river that floods in Elif Shafak’s writing which compels us to read and observe. The magical realism and the crafting help to gain an insight into the diverse characters.
The well-celebrated Turkish writer Elif Shafak with the help of stories and silences, societies, and structure has always connected people from multiple identities to acknowledge the diversity around us. The seemingly small details in her ideas, from narrating the struggle of religious scholar Jalal ud din Rumi to confronting sexual violence, here are some of the author’s masterpieces you must read.
3 Daughters of Eve
The story of faith and friendship traveling back and forth between Istanbul and Oxford. Peri brought up in Istanbul with a leftist father and pious mother meets Shirin and Mona at the university and the three are described as the sinner, the confused and the believer while debating about God at the heart of the novel “Professor Azur”.
The book travels back and forth between the present and past, set at a seaside mansion where one minute you are talking about life, and the other you hear a blast. She remembers her time at the Oxford University and the scandal of silence. The exchange of dialogues between the believers and non-believers along with the unambiguous message of modesty and spiritual experience, the shape of life is a circle and chaotic in nature and the unexpected betrayals are a part of it.
Forty Rules of Love
Before he became a world-famous poet, religious scholar Jalal-ud-din Rumi struggled with emptiness. Despite thousands of admirers, Rumi felt something was amiss and wandering dervish called Shams of Tabriz was the answer to Rumi’s prayers.
The 21st century is not that different from the 13th century as the Female protagonist Ella the core representative of 21st-century women tries to break the norms and culture of the male-centric culture whereas her husband was the sign of the universal patriarchal system dominating his wife.
A novel within the novel which shows a lots of contemplation has to be done when you go through this saga of love in two eras distinct in time but so similar when it comes to human emotion displaying the cultural misunderstanding and insecurities which are always present when sorting the identities. As Rumi says don’t go with the flow, be the flow!
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With a hint of science and fiction, the novel narrates the victim of sexual violence “Tequila Leila” a courageous woman who kept possession of her humanity despite the odds but ended up in a rubbish bin.
The story explores Leila’s life the eastern province of Van where she was bought up and celebrated and her life at a brothel in Istanbul, and the five friends that make her life joyful — personalities that hold Leila tight and pull her up was sketched by definite details.
The novel itself proves to be a map to help discover the life of a sex worker in the Middle East as the book travels in the maze divided into three-parts by the memories associated with a taste highlighting the political taboos and culture of Istanbul is a treat to read.
