The Bastard of Istanbul

I picked this book up in the airport in Istanbul when we were there in October. I'd been meaning to read Elif Shafak's work for a while, and since she's one of Turkey's most popular authors, it seemed like a good souvenir. I wasn't really sure what it was about, except that my mother-in-law really enjoyed it as an Armenian American.

And boy, does this book dive into the Armenian-Turkish conflict. I'm glad I married in to an Armenian family and had some context for this book going into it. Granted, that's all from the Armenian side of things. But it was still good background to have.

The book follows two families. One is Armenian-American, living in San Francisco after the grandmother was forced out during the genocide. The other lives in Turkey. The Armenians are focused on the past. Everything they do and believe is shaped by the genocide, even for young Armanoush who is threee generations removed from it. The Turkish family is more focused on the present, living in the moment and barely even aware of Turkish history from before the current regime.

Initially, Shafak's writing reminded me a lot of Zadie Smith.  The book follows two connected but distinct families across multiple generations, as do both of the books by Smith that I've read. It wanders a bit, diving into the history of different characters as they come into the focus of the main story. But Shafak is more focued than Smith, and brings this book to a much more satisfying conclusion. The plots come together very nicely and the main thrust of the story is essentially resolved. As much as a generations-old conflict can be.