10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World: The powerful Booker Prize-shortlisted novel from the bestselling author of The Island of Missing Trees
Jun 2019 · Penguin UK
4.2star
20 reviewsreport
Ebook
320
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About this ebook
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2019
'Expect vibrant, vivid and eye-opening descriptions of Middle Eastern life propelled by a tender storyline, all in Shafak's haunting, beautiful and considered prose' Vanity Fair
'Incredibly sensuous and poetic and evocative' Pandora Sykes
'Richly uplifting... truly beautiful writing' Nicola Sturgeon
'In the first minute following her death, Tequila Leila's consciousness began to ebb, slowly and steadily, like a tide receding from the shore...'
For Leila, each minute after her death recalls a sensuous memory: spiced goat stew, sacrificed by her father to celebrate the birth of a yearned-for son; bubbling vats of lemon and sugar to wax women's legs while men are at prayer; the cardamom coffee she shares with a handsome student in the brothel where she works. Each fading memory brings back the friends she made in her bittersweet life - friends who are now desperately trying to find her . . .
'Simply magnificent, a truly captivating work of immense power and beauty, on the essence of life and its end' Philippe Sands
'Elif Shafak brings into the written realm what so many others want to leave outside. Spend more than ten minutes and 38 seconds in this world of the estranged. Shafak makes a new home for us in words' Colum McCann
'Elif Shafak's extraordinary 10 Minutes, 38 Seconds in this Strange World is a work of brutal beauty and consummate tenderness' Simon Schama
'A rich, sensual novel... This is a novel that gives voice to the invisible, the untouchable, the abused and the damaged, weaving their painful songs into a thing of beauty.' Financial Times
'One of the best writers in the world today' Hanif Kureishi
'Haunting, moving, beautifully written. A masterpiece' Peter Frankopan
'Extraordinary' Guardian
'Life-affirming' Stylist
*** ELIF SHAFAK'S NEW NOVEL, THERE ARE RIVERS IN THE SKY, IS AVAILABLE NOW ***
'Expect vibrant, vivid and eye-opening descriptions of Middle Eastern life propelled by a tender storyline, all in Shafak's haunting, beautiful and considered prose' Vanity Fair
'Incredibly sensuous and poetic and evocative' Pandora Sykes
'Richly uplifting... truly beautiful writing' Nicola Sturgeon
'In the first minute following her death, Tequila Leila's consciousness began to ebb, slowly and steadily, like a tide receding from the shore...'
For Leila, each minute after her death recalls a sensuous memory: spiced goat stew, sacrificed by her father to celebrate the birth of a yearned-for son; bubbling vats of lemon and sugar to wax women's legs while men are at prayer; the cardamom coffee she shares with a handsome student in the brothel where she works. Each fading memory brings back the friends she made in her bittersweet life - friends who are now desperately trying to find her . . .
'Simply magnificent, a truly captivating work of immense power and beauty, on the essence of life and its end' Philippe Sands
'Elif Shafak brings into the written realm what so many others want to leave outside. Spend more than ten minutes and 38 seconds in this world of the estranged. Shafak makes a new home for us in words' Colum McCann
'Elif Shafak's extraordinary 10 Minutes, 38 Seconds in this Strange World is a work of brutal beauty and consummate tenderness' Simon Schama
'A rich, sensual novel... This is a novel that gives voice to the invisible, the untouchable, the abused and the damaged, weaving their painful songs into a thing of beauty.' Financial Times
'One of the best writers in the world today' Hanif Kureishi
'Haunting, moving, beautifully written. A masterpiece' Peter Frankopan
'Extraordinary' Guardian
'Life-affirming' Stylist
*** ELIF SHAFAK'S NEW NOVEL, THERE ARE RIVERS IN THE SKY, IS AVAILABLE NOW ***
Ratings and reviews
4.2
20 reviews
Lana Khalil
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March 10, 2021
Honestly, I’m at a loss for words.No matter what I say, I know for a fact that my review won’t give this book justice, but I’m giving it my best shot. Tequila Leila and The Five have a bond that is so beautiful yet so flawed, what they have is limitless loyalty and unconditional love. Each character will take you through its own journey and you will sympathize with each one of them, they will turn you into an emotional mess, whether it’s sadness, anger, happiness, or grief. Leila runs from a very conservative household in hopes of pursuing her dreams in Istanbul, what she failed to realize was that Istanbul wasn’t what she dreamed of, the brutal reality and cruelty of Istanbul hit her hard, and turned her into a prostitute and eventually a murdered one. I would love to thank Elif Shafak for writing a book that is so extraordinary and unforgettable.
1 person found this review helpful
About the author
Elif Shafak is an award-winning British Turkish novelist, whose work has been translated into fifty-six languages. The author of nineteen books, twelve of which are novels, she is a bestselling author in many countries around the world. Shafak's last novel, The Island of Missing Trees, was a top ten Sunday Times bestseller, and was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award and the Women's Prize for Fiction. Her novel 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the RSL Ondaatje Prize.
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