One rainy afternoon in Istanbul a woman walks into a doctor's surgery. 'I need to have an
abortion' she announces. She is nineteen years old and unmarried. What happens that afternoon
will change her life. Twenty years later Asya Kazanci lives with her extended family in
Istanbul. Due to a mysterious family curse all the Kaznci men die in their early forties so
it is a house of women among them Asya's beautiful rebellious mother Zeliha who runs a
tattoo parlour Banu who has newly discovered herself as clairvoyant and Feride a
hypochondriac obsessed with impending disaster. And when Asya's Armenian-American cousin
Armanoush comes to stay long hidden family secrets connected with Turkey's turbulent past
begin to emerge. 'Wonderfully magical incredible breathtaking...will have you gasping with
disbelief in the last few pages' Sunday Express'A beautiful book the finest I have read about
Turkey' Irish Times'Heartbreaking...the beauty of Islam pervades Shafak's book' Vogue
