Book list
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*Starred Review* Best-selling Turkish writer Shafak's literary powers resemble those of a djinni in command of whirlwinds. Like her cyclonic family drama The Bastard of Istanbul (2007), her newest is a gyre of multiple points of view, flashbacks, and tragic moral dilemmas. At the center are twin sisters, Jamila and Pembe, born in a Kurdish village where girls are valued only for their purity and obedience. Theirs is a culture in which any suggestion of female impropriety, however unjustified, can be grounds for an honor killing because, as one man asserts, honor was all that some men had in this world. Jamila ends up living alone in rural Turkey, relied upon as a healer and known as the Virgin Midwife. Pembe is unhappy in London with her feckless, unfaithful husband, Adem. Their smart, skeptical daughter, Esma, wants to be a writer, but not a female one ; their younger son Yunus discovers a wildly permissive enclave among druggie punk squatters; and the eldest, Iskender, feels duty bound to defend his family's honor after Pembe is seen with another man. At every turn in this trenchant, dazzlingly imaginative, suspenseful, mystical, and socially astute novel, Shafak sheds light on the crushing consequences of oppressive gender roles, the struggles of immigrants, and the divide between brutal traditions and the quest for freedom and love.--Seaman, Donna Copyright 2010 Booklist

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Turkish novelist Shafak again explores sociopolitical issues within a deeply human context in this tragedy about how traditional Turkish Muslim attitudes toward women impact a family that has immigrated to England. "My mother died twice," is the novel's telling first line, spoken in 1992 London by educated, assimilated Esma on her way to pick up her brother Iskender from the prison where he's been incarcerated since 1978 for the murder of their mother, Pembe. The killing is a given. The drama lies in what led to such violence, which Shafak explains through the history of Pembe and her husband, Adem, with whom she moved to London, of their three children who have grown up in England, and of Pembe's twin sister, Jamila, who has stayed behind in rural Turkey. Pembe has always been the more adventurous sister, Jamila the dreamy, spiritual one. Originally, Adem falls in love with Jamila, but she is already promised to an elderly man from the family that kidnapped her and therefore compromised her honor. Seeing him as a means of escaping to a larger world, Pembe convinces Adem to marry her instead. They move to London. By the late 1970s, Adem has gambled away their savings and deserted Pembe to live with his mistress. To make ends meet, she takes a job at a hair salon and begins to blossom. Bookish Esma and handsome Iskender struggle as teens to find their place in British society, but British-born 7-year-old Yunus is thoroughly British. A magical child, innocent yet wise beyond his years, Yunus becomes the mascot for a group of hippies in a nearby squat. Then Pembe meets a nice man and falls in love. Never mind that Adem is living with his mistress; Iskender feels compelled to save the family's honor. But 14 years later, Iskender and Esma must come to terms with past actions. Shafak turns what might seem a polemic against honor killing in lesser hands into a searing but empathetic and ultimately universal family tragedy.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Library Journal
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When a murder among a family of Turkish immigrants is committed in London, it is clear from the outset that Iskender Toprak has killed his mother; it soon becomes apparent that he did so for reasons of "honor," as Pembe was believed to be having an extramarital affair. Utilizing multiple narrators and a nonchronological structure, Shafak creates a mosaic of three generations of a family and reveals the history of abuse that led to the murder. Culture clashes-Turkish versus Kurdish, rural versus urban, Eastern versus Western cultural norms and expectations-are ongoing themes in this novel set against a backdrop of the political and cultural turmoil of 1970s London. VERDICT The nonlinear structure and lack of a central character create a somewhat disjointed reading experience, especially at first. But as the characters and their stories become more familiar, Shafak's unconventional style offers moments of surprise. A major plot twist toward the end pushes the limits of plausibility, but overall this is a worthy addition to a growing body of literature from authors with Middle Eastern roots. [See Prepub Alert, 9/24/12.]-Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Univ. of Minnesota Libs, Minneapolis (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.