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erinreadstheworld 's review for:
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World
by Elif Shafak
Elif Shafak portrays such a vivid insight into life. Yet death lurks close by. The book starts with the discovery of a murdered prostitute, abandoned in a rubbish bin. Leila Tequila is dead, but she's not quite gone.
Each chapter counts down the minutes left between Leila's life and the finality of her death. The first part of the book is set in this space between life and death. The 10 minutes and 38 seconds, to be precise, where Leila's heart has stopped beating but her brain is still recalling the memories of her life.
In these 10 minutes Leila recalls moments from her life, from early childhood through to the night of her murder. She falls in love, she makes dear friends. Yet it's not all sunshine and rainbows. Many of her memories are deeply disturbing. She was a victim of childhood grooming and sexual assault. This is not a book to read lightly and I'm sure it would be triggering for a lot of people.
Leila's recollections tell more than just the story of her life. They tell the story of Istanbul and the women who live on its fringes. We are told the stories of the women that society would rather ignore.
And echoing real life, Leila's memories are linked to her senses of smell and taste. The scents and flavours of Turkey are deeply woven throughout the book.
The first part of the book is very different to the latter part. The first part is slow and dark. It's an unravelling of secrets of Leila and her 5 closest friends.
The second part feels like an adventure. It's still sad but the pace quickens and there's moments of dark humour. I quite liked these two very different parts of the novel. One person's story never ends with their death, not when the people they love still mourn and continue to carry the memory of their loved one. And that's exactly what we see in the second half of the book.
Elif Shafak's writing is poetic and creative. I spent much of the book recalling my own trip to Turkey. The taste of hot tea and sweet desserts. The sounds and buzz of Istanbul's streets. The Galata Tower overlooking parts of the city. The small country towns we visited. And I know I didn't see the side of Istanbul that's shown in the book, but I relived many moments of my own life while exploring Leila's world.
Each chapter counts down the minutes left between Leila's life and the finality of her death. The first part of the book is set in this space between life and death. The 10 minutes and 38 seconds, to be precise, where Leila's heart has stopped beating but her brain is still recalling the memories of her life.
In these 10 minutes Leila recalls moments from her life, from early childhood through to the night of her murder. She falls in love, she makes dear friends. Yet it's not all sunshine and rainbows. Many of her memories are deeply disturbing. She was a victim of childhood grooming and sexual assault. This is not a book to read lightly and I'm sure it would be triggering for a lot of people.
Leila's recollections tell more than just the story of her life. They tell the story of Istanbul and the women who live on its fringes. We are told the stories of the women that society would rather ignore.
And echoing real life, Leila's memories are linked to her senses of smell and taste. The scents and flavours of Turkey are deeply woven throughout the book.
The first part of the book is very different to the latter part. The first part is slow and dark. It's an unravelling of secrets of Leila and her 5 closest friends.
The second part feels like an adventure. It's still sad but the pace quickens and there's moments of dark humour. I quite liked these two very different parts of the novel. One person's story never ends with their death, not when the people they love still mourn and continue to carry the memory of their loved one. And that's exactly what we see in the second half of the book.
Elif Shafak's writing is poetic and creative. I spent much of the book recalling my own trip to Turkey. The taste of hot tea and sweet desserts. The sounds and buzz of Istanbul's streets. The Galata Tower overlooking parts of the city. The small country towns we visited. And I know I didn't see the side of Istanbul that's shown in the book, but I relived many moments of my own life while exploring Leila's world.