In Conversation: On 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World – shortlisted for the Booker Prize

Shamim Sarif is a writer and director and also a long-time advocate for the rights of women and the LGBTQ+ community. Her most recent feature as writer/director is Despite the Falling Snow, which was based on her second novel set in Cold War Moscow. She has also written and directed I Can’t Think Straight and The World Unseen. Her documentary The House of Tomorrow, was shot on location in Jerusalem. The Athena Protocol was her first novel for teens. Jessie Archer faced down death to prove her dedication to Athena, the elite organization of female spies she works for. In The Shadow Mission (HarperTeen), the gripping sequel to The Athena Protocol, a feminist Bourne Identity-style thriller, Jessie is back on the team, in time to head to Pakistan to take down the man whose actions spurred Athena’s founders to create the secretive squad. But his connections spread farther than anyone knew, and when a girls’ school in Mumbai is bombed, a shadowy far-right organization reveals itself—and its evil plans to continue attacks. When someone close to the investigation turns on Athena, Jessie knows that their time to save everyone is nearly up. Once again, she’ll have to risk everything to protect the vulnerable and prove herself. Kirkus Reviews noted that “Jessie continues to confront the universality of patriarchal norms, misogyny, and oppressive treatment of women worldwide. A badass, action-packed, feminist page-turner.”

Elif Shafak is a British-Turkish novelist and the most widely read female author in Turkey. She has published seventeen books, including eleven novels. An advocate for women’s rights, LGBT rights and freedom of speech, Shafak contributes to many major publications around the world. In the moments after she has been murdered and left in a dumpster outside Istanbul, Tequila Leila enters a state of heightened awareness. Her heart has stopped beating but her brain is still active-for 10 minutes 38 seconds and she remembers her life-and the lives of others, outcasts like her. In Elif Shafak’s latest novel 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World (Viking), which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, Tequila Leila’s memories bring us to her childhood in the provinces. It’s an oppressive milieu, shaped by religion, traditions and a polygamous family with two mothers and an increasingly authoritarian father. Escaping to Istanbul, Leila enters the sordid industry of sex trafficking, finding a home in the city’s historic Street of Brothels. It’s a dark, violent world, but Leila is tough and open to beauty, light, and the essential bonds of friendship. In her death, the secrets and wonders of modern Istanbul come to life. The New York Times Book Review noted that Shafak “writes with vision, bravery and compassion […] a stunning portrait of a city, a society, a small community and a single soul.”