Fifteen-year-old Meryem lives in a rural village in Eastern Anatolia Turkey. Her simple
conventional way of life changes dramatically after her uncle a sheikh in a dervish order
rapes her-and condemns her to death for shaming the family. Asked to carry out the honor
killing is his son Cemal a commando in the Turkish army. So begins a long mystifying voyage
for Meryem as her shell-shocked cousin ushers her to the shining metropolis of Istanbul where
another troubled soul the Harvard-educated professor Irfan embarks on his own journey of
transformation-one that catapults him into the heart of Meryem and Cemal's conflict. The
crossed-paths and interwoven destinies of these three characters makes for an affecting by
turns brutal and life-affirming portrayal of traditional and modern-day Turkey that no reader
will soon forget. Livaneli is an essential force in Turkey's musical cultural and political
scene. --Orhan Pamuk Nobel Prize Winner and author of Snow Bliss is eye-opening and deeply
moving. --Kirkus Reviews (starred) Compelling [for] American readers ...hard to put down. --The
Cleveland Plain Dealer With lush scenes of Turkish life and nuanced depictions of the
[characters'] inner lives. . .a convergence of lost likable souls. --Entertainment Weekly
