Elif Shafak

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.”