The bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak

"The bastard of Istanbul" by Elif Shafak. This book is published by Viking in 2015 and has 368 pages. 

Zeliha, a 19 year old girl, who smokes, wears mini skirts, has nose piercing, is not averse to profanities, walks into a clinic in Istanbul, Turkey, for abortion. Asaya Kazanci is a young lady born in Istanbul in a Turkish family full of women and no men. Armanoush Tchakhmakhchian is born in America to an Armenian father and American mother who divorced after her birth and her mother married a Turk.  

Who is the bastard of Istanbul? Will Asaya and Armanoush gel? 

Asaya is a bastard of Istanbul in a literal sense. She was born, out of wedlock, and brought up in Istanbul. Armanoush, belonging to Armenian diaspora exiled from Turkey, is a bastard of Istanbul in a border sense. 

Armenians, alongwith other minorities, faced genocide at the hands of Ottoman Empire around WW I. They were either murdered or extradited from Turkey. Thus a large population of Armenians belong to Turkey but are unwanted there. There is a historical antipathy between Turks and Armenians. Armenians want the Turks to accept that it was a genocide but Turkey refuses to accept it as genocide, although many other countries have.

The book is full of contradictions and idiosyncrasies. Armanoush's realization that Armenian community is living with the memory of genocide passed on through generations whereas Turkish people don't see themselves as responsible because, for them, the atrocities of Ottoman Empire were by someone else, not them, is stunning. Istambulaits consider themselves westerners whereas westerners consider them mid-easterners. An example of such contradiction is a sentence 'A man who looked abnormally normal walked in'.

Readers get A jolt when the ghastly secret is revealed. By the time readers comes out of the shock another secret is revealed. The book suddenly takes a serious turn. 

In her attemp to display the Turkish culture author has given a recipe of a Turkish sweet in the book. Recipe in a novel. Really? 

Author has built a fascinating tale in first 17 chapters but 18th chapter comes as an antithesis. It doesn't add anything to the story. On the contrary the story loses its intensity. The book would have been more effective if either the last chapter was not there or it would have been converted to an epilogue if not more than a couple of pages.

Characterization in this book is rich and vivid. It has numerous but distinct characters. Armenian family members of Armanoush, Turkush family members of Asaya are vividly depicted. Armanoush is an Armenian American girl who is in search of her identity. Asaya is a funky, rebel, iternally full of anger Turkish girl full of contradictions. She loves Johny Cash songs, has multiple lovers at the age of 19 and reads philosophy. Asaya's group in Cafè Kundera is made up of a Dipsomaniac Cartoonist, his Wife, an exceptionally untalented poet, a closeted gay columnist, Nonnationalist scenarist of Ultranationalist movies (there goes the contradiction) and his current girl friend. These characters don't have names they are addressed by their traits. Cafè Constantinopolis is a chat room made up of grand children of Armenians, Greeks and Sephardims exiled from Turkey. The diaspora has a collective memory of Turkish atrocities and they have a common enemy, Turkey.  

Two outstanding things in this book are:

1. In the book, one of the character presents 15 point test of Armenian-ness. This checklist distils the essence of being Armenian and is too good.
2. Author says that on one hand Turks are in the habit of denying their wrong doing and on the other, Armenians are in the habit of savouring the cocoon of victim hood. 

Although I know a few Armenians, I read more about Armenia and Armenians after starting this book. 

Elif Shafak is a Turkish author. She was sued for insulting Turkishness in this book but was later acquitted. 

Why did I read this book? The title, the Turkish author and set up.

What I didn't like? The recipe and the last chapter. 

What did I like? Knowledge about Armenian community, Story. 

A very good book and a must read.