I was so pleasantly surprised when I began to read this novel, a first book yet, and when I finished it, I was in awe of this author’s spectacular prose and microscopic attention to the inner workings of her protagonist. Still, I can understand why other readers might not get its point or might get it in different ways from mine. To begin with, one has to have the feel and emotionality of the two cities, Istanbul and Paris. I am lucky that I was privileged enough to have lived in or visited both cities and thus, to be able to relate to the main character Nunu’s feelings about them.

Nunu is a young woman who is writing this story from Istanbul, her home town. Earlier, she has gone to school abroad in London and then to Paris for a course which she didn’t attend.

Her recollections are mostly about the time she walks around in the city of Paris with another author, a much older man, she calls M. She has read M.’s books but she doesn’t let him in on it. One of M.’s books is about Istanbul and he possibly befriends Nunu for the stories she tells him from her point of view.

Inside the story, there are sections about the time when she lived with a boyfriend, Luke, in London. Mostly though, her recollections go back and forth between Istanbul and Paris and her different ways of looking at incidents in both cities.

Through it all, she makes lists, reflects, and pieces together her memories with the hope of understanding herself and the world better. Although Nunu’s telling her story may sound like melancholic ruminations to some readers and others may think this story has no plot, I don’t agree with both assessments. Nunu’s reflections, recollections, and the sorting of her feelings have a serious flow and a beginning and an end, especially when it comes to her relationship with her mother and M, and the cities of Paris and Istanbul.

As a character, Nunu not only aims at being understood but also, she wants to understand herself with her many sides that probably found their origins from the effects of Istanbul as a city and a childhood tragedy that affected her and her relationships. Through the telling of her story, Nunu (short for Nurunisa) reaches into her own shadow to find her own true domain, each time finding another version of herself or another version of her angst. Although the author’s handling of this non-linear storytelling may sound fragmented, it is also a fresh approach, letting each memory carry a new brilliance of a creative impulse.

The story is sensitive but not sappy, and through the reading of the book, I found myself contemplating on serious issues that the story touches on. This is a true literary undertaking, and I’ll certainly expect other books of high caliber from this author. In short, this is probably the best book I’ve read in a long time.

realizing what is truly literary.

the main character's analyzation of her own self, the many different sides of her, and her realizing that she shows herself as a different person to different people under different circumstances.

deeply touched.

is Aysegül Savas. She grew up in Turkey and Denmark. Her work has appeared in The Paris Review, Guernica, and elsewhere, and was shortlisted for the Glimmer Train Fiction Prize and the Graywolf Emerging Writers Award. She has an MFA from the University of San Francisco. She teaches at the Sorbonne and lives in Paris.

It is probably different than most any book an average reader reads.

If you look for a story that is action-oriented with a clear-cut plot and characters, this book is not for you.

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Created Aug 22, 2019 at 4:30pm • Submit your own review...