Bøker av Elif Shafak

*The international bestseller** One of the BBC's '100 Novels that Shaped the World'*"e;Every true love and friendship is a story of unexpected transformation. If we are the same person before and after we loved, that means we haven't loved enough..."e; Ella Rubinstein has a husband, three teenage children, and a pleasant home. Everything that should make her confident and fulfilled. Yet there is an emptiness at the heart of Ella's life - an emptiness once filled by love. So when Ella reads a manuscript about the thirteenth-century Sufi poet Rumi and Shams of Tabriz, and his forty rules of life and love, her world is turned upside down. She embarks on a journey to meet the mysterious author of this work.It is a quest infused with Sufi mysticism and verse, taking Ella and us into an exotic world where faith and love are heartbreakingly explored. . . 'Enlightening, enthralling. An affecting paean to faith and love' Metro'Colourfully woven and beguilingly intelligent' Daily Telegraph'The past and present fit together beautifully in a passionate defence of passion itself' The Times

The Booker Prize-shortlisted author on how staying optimistic can make our world better.

*As mentioned on BBC's Desert Island Discs*'A fascinating exploration of faith and friendship, rich and poor, and the devastating clash of tradition and modernity' Independent Set across Istanbul and Oxford, from the 1980s to the present day, Three Daughters of Eve is a sweeping tale of faith and friendship, tradition and modernity, love and an unexpected betrayal.Peri, a wealthy Turkish housewife, is on her way to a dinner party at a seaside mansion in Istanbul when a beggar snatches her handbag. As she wrestles to get it back, a photograph falls to the ground - an old polaroid of three young women and their university professor. A relic from a past - and a love - Peri had tried desperately to forget.The photograph takes Peri back to Oxford University, as an eighteen year old sent abroad for the first time. To her dazzling, rebellious Professor and his life-changing course on God. To her home with her two best friends, Shirin and Mona, and their arguments about Islam and femininity. And finally, to the scandal that tore them all apart.

Black Milk is the affecting and beautifully written memoir on motherhood and writing by Turkey's bestselling female writer Elif Shafak, author of Honour, The Gaze and The Bastard of Istanbul which was long-listed for the Orange prize.Postpartum depression affects millions of new mothers every year, and- like most of its victims- Elif Shafak never expected to be one of them. But after the birth of her first child in 2006, the internationally bestselling Turkish author remembers how "e;for the first time my adult life . . . words wouldn't speak to me"e;. As her despair finally eased, Shafak sought to resuscitate her writing life by chronicling her own experiences.In her intimate memoir, she reveals how she struggled to overcome her depression and how literature provided the salvation she so desperately needed.'An intimate, affecting memoir . . . Her passion for literature is contagious, and her struggle with postpartum depression and writer's block reinforces how carefully all of us must tread. Beautifully rendered, Shafak's Black Milk is an epic poem to women everywhere' Colleen Mondor Elif Shafak is the acclaimed author of The Bastard of Istanbul and The Forty Rules of Love and is the most widely read female novelist in Turkey. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages. She is a contributor for The Telegraph, Guardian and the New York Times and her TED talk on the politics of fiction has received 500 000 viewers since July 2010. She is married with two children and divides her time between Istanbul and London.

From the Orange Prize long-listed and award-winning author of The Forty Rules of Love and The Bastard of Istanbul Elif Shafak, Honour is a novel of love, betrayal and a clash of cultures.'My mother died twice. I promised myself I would not let her story be forgotten . . .'Leaving her twin sister behind, Pembe leaves Turkey for love - following her husband Adem to London. There the Topraks hope to make new lives for themselves and their children. Yet, no matter how far they travel, the traditions and beliefs the Topraks left behind stay with them - carried in the blood. Their eldest is the boy Iskender, who remembers Turkey and feels betrayal deeper than most. His sister is Esma, who is loyal and true despite the pain and heartache. And, lastly, Yunus, who was born in London, and is shy and different.Trapped by the mistakes of the past, the Toprak children find their lives shattered and transformed by a brutal act of murder . . .A powerful novel set in Turkey and London in the 1970s, Honour explores pain and loss, loyalty and betrayal, the trials of the immigrant, the clash of tradition and modernity, as well as the love and heartbreak that too often tears families apart.'A powerful book; thoughtful, provoking and compassionate' Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat'Rich and wide as the Euphrates river along whose banks it begins and ends, Elif Shafak has woven with masterful care and compassion one immigrant family's heartbreaking story - a story nurtured in the terrible silences between men and women trying to grow within ancient ways, all the while growing past them. I loved this book' Sarah Blake, author of The PostmistressElif Shafak is the acclaimed author of The Bastard of Istanbul and The Forty Rules of Love and is the most widely read female novelist in Turkey. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages. She is a contributor for The Telegraph, Guardian and the New York Times and her TED talk on the politics of fiction has received 500 000 views since July 2010. She is married with two children and divides her time between Istanbul and London.

A new novel from bestselling author of THE ISLAND OF MISSING TREES. A rich, sweeping novel about memory, belonging and the beauty of the natural world: following three characters in different timeframes, all connected by the rivers Thames and Tigris, this epic novel spans ancient Mesopotamia to Victorian England to present day Turkey and London.

En poetisk og fengslende fortelling fra en av Tyrkias største forfattere. På det urolige 1200-tallet, en tid fylt av religionskrig og maktkamp, møter poeten Rumi sin åndelige veileder, den vandrende dervisjen kjent som Shams av Tabriz. Rumi forvandles fra en vellykket, men ulykkelig geistlig til en engasjert mystiker, poet og talsmann for den universelle kjærligheten. Det åndelige båndet mellom Rumi og Shams møter mye motstand fra mektige krefter - og de blir sveket av dem som står dem nærmest. Men deres historie slutter likevel ikke der. I dagens Massachusetts blir den amerikanske husmoren Ella Rubenstein inspirert av Rumis kjærlighetsbudskap. Det gir henne styrke til å gjennomføre sin egen nødvendige livsendring.

By turns comic and tragic, Elif Shafak's The Flea Palace is an outstandingly original novel driven by an overriding sense of social justice.Bonbon Palace was once a stately apartment block in Istanbul. Now it is a sadly dilapidated home to ten wildly different individuals and their families.There's a womanizing, hard-drinking academic with a penchant for philosophy; a 'clean freak' and her lice-ridden daughter; a lapsed Jew in search of true love; and a charmingly na ve mistress whose shadowy past lurks in the building. When the garbage at Bonbon Palace is stolen, a mysterious sequence of events unfolds that result in a soul-searching quest for truth."e;An enchanting combination of compassion and cruelty . . . Elif Shafak is the best author to come out of Turkey in the last decade"e; - Orhan Pamuk"e;Hyper-active and hilarious"e; - IndependentElif Shafak is the acclaimed author of The Bastard of Istanbul and The Forty Rules of Love and is the most widely read female novelist in Turkey. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages. She is a contributor for The Telegraph, Guardian and the New York Times and her TED talk on the politics of fiction has received 500 000 viewers since July 2010. She is married with two children and divides her time between Istanbul and London.

One rainy afternoon in Istanbul a woman walks into a doctor's surgery. 'I want an abortion', she announces. She is nineteen years old, and unmarried. What happens that afternoon is to change her life, and the lives of everyone around her.Twenty years later, Asya Kazanci lives with her extended family in Istanbul. Due to a mysterious family curse all the men die by age 41, so it is a house of women, among them her beautiful, rebellious mother, Zeliha, clairvoyant Auntie Banu and bar-brawl widow, Auntie Cevriye. But when Asya's Armenian-American cousin Armanoush comes to stay, long-hidden family secrets and Turkey's turbulent past begin to emerge.

A beautiful and compelling novel, Elif Shafak's The Gaze considers the damage which can be inflicted by our simple desire to look at others"e;I didn't say anything. I didn't return his smiles. I looked at him in the wide mirror in front of where I was sitting. He grew uncomfortable and avoided my eyes. I hate those who think fat people are stupid.'An obese woman and her lover, a dwarf, are sick of being stared at wherever they go, and so decide to reverse roles. The man goes out wearing make up and the woman draws a moustache on her face. But while the woman wants to hide away from the world, the man meets the stares from passers-by head on, compiling his 'Dictionary of Gazes' to explore the boundaries between appearance and reality.Intertwined with the story of a bizarre freak-show organised in Istanbul in the 1880s, The Gaze considers the damage which can be inflicted by our simple desire to look at others."e;Beautifully evoked"e; - The Times"e;Original and Compelling"e; - TLS"e;Plays with ideas of beauty and ugliness like they're Rubik's cubes"e; - Helen Oyeyemi"e;Entertaining and affecting"e; - Publishers' Weekly Elif Shafak is the acclaimed author of The Bastard of Istanbul and The Forty Rules of Love and is the most widely read female novelist in Turkey. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages. She is a contributor for The Telegraph, Guardian and the New York Times and her TED talk on the politics of fiction has received 500 000 viewers since July 2010. She is married with two children and divides her time between Istanbul and London.

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Den tyrkisk-britiske forfatteren Elif Shafak har med Fikentreet skrevet sin kanskje mest ambisiøse og komplekse roman. Den spenner over fire tiår og flere kulturer, med handling lagt til Kypros og London.I 1974 invaderte tyrkiske soldater den nordlige delen av Kypros, og øya ble effektivt delt i to. Samme år treffes to tenåringer fra hver sin del av landet på tavernaen Den glade fiken. Der kan Kostas, som er greker og kristen, og Defne, som er tyrkisk og muslim, møtes i smug på bakrommet, skjult under svartsotede takbjelker som det henger kranser av hvitløk, chilipepper og urtekvaster fra. Tavernaen tilbyr diskresjon, samt den beste maten i byen, den beste musikken, den beste vinen. Den lar gjestene fortrenge, i hvert fall i noen timer, den bedrøvelige og truende verdenen utenfor.Midt i tavernaen vokser et fikentre ut gjennom en åpning i taket. Dette treet er vitne til de to ungdommenes hemmelige, lykkelige møter, såvel som til deres tause, stjålne avskjeder. Treet er der når krigshandlingene bryter ut, når hovedstaden blir lagt i grus - og når kjærestene forsvinner hver til sitt. Kostas til London, mens Defne blir værende på den voldsherjede øya.Flere tiår senere vokser datteren deres Ada opp i London. 16-åringen har aldri vært på øya foreldrene hennes kommer fra, og hun vil ha en forklaring på hemmeligholdet og tausheten deres. Den eneste forbindelsen hun har til foreldrenes hjemland, er det lille fikentreet som vokser i hagen hjemme, avleggeren som botanikerfaren Kostas har vært og hentet på Kypros.Kapittel for kapittel beveger romanen seg på tvers av fire årtier, oppklarer enkelte mysterier og skaper andre. Den hjerteskjærende slutten avrunder en vakker og magisk beretning om tap, eksil og lengsel - og om dikterisk frihet til å gjøre trær allvitende.«En vakker betraktning om noen av livets største spørsmål, om identitet, historie og mening.» - Time

«En av verdens beste forfattere i dag.» - Hanif KureishiI en søppeldunk et sted i utkanten av Istanbul ligger sexarbeideren Tequila Leila og er død. Men «selv om hjertet hadde sluttet å slå, strittet hjernen imot ... Hukommelsen stormet av gårde, ivrig og iherdig, og samlet opp biter av et liv som styrtet mot slutten».Slik innledes denne usedvanlige beretningen om en mishandlet og brutalisert, men sterk og modig kvinne som har holdt fast ved sin grunnleggende menneskelighet, på tross av at verden har gjort sitt beste for å knekke henne. Mens livets nedtelling pågår, klynger Leilas bevissthet seg til minner om fødsel og barndom, oppvekst og overgrep, bakgatene og bordellet hun jobbet i - og ikke minst hennes fem medutstøtte venner, sikkerhetsnettet som dempet fallet hver gang hun snublet, ble utnyttet og henfalt til selvmedlidenhet.Men historien om kvinnen som nekter å tie selv etter at hun er blitt myrdet, er også en roman om byen som var hennes levebrød inntil den tok livet av henne, Istanbul. Boken er dedisert til «Istanbuls kvinner og til byen Istanbul, som er - og alltid har vært - en kvinnelig by». Dobbeltportrettet av den prostituerte Leila og «denne maniske gamle byen» gjør Shafaks nye roman til en ofte sjokkerende, men medrivende og intens leseopplevelse. Som forfatteren sier det: «Mye i denne boken er sant, og alt er fiksjon.»«En rik og sensuell roman ... som gir stemme til de usynlige, de utstøtte, de misbrukte og de skadde, sammenvever deres smertefulle sanger til noe vakkert.» - Financial Times

Arkitektens læregutt er en storslagen fortelling fra 1500- og 1600-tallets Istanbul, hjertet i det veldige osmanske riket. Tolv år gamle Jahan kommer til byen som elefanttemmer, og faller for sultanens skjønne datter. I palasset blir han tatt under vingene til sjefarkitekten Sinan og får være med på byggingen av noen av verdens mest fantastiske bygninger. Men farlige understrømmer truer hoffet og imperiet, og mektige krefter motarbeider arkitekten og hans læregutt. Den tyrkiske forfatteren Elif Shafak har skrevet en vakker og uforglemmelig fortelling om kjærlighet og vennskap, om rå maktutøvelse og om vilkårene for menneskelig og kunstnerisk frihet. Romanen bygger på historiske hendelser, og er ikke minst en kjærlighetserklæring til sagnomsuste Istanbul, som i over to tusen år har vært den viktigste møteplassen mellom Europa i vest og Asia i øst.

35 år gamle Peri er på vei til et middagsselskap i et palass ved Bosporos i Istanbul da hun blir overfalt og forsøkt ranet av en tigger. Ut av veska hennes faller et gammelt og glemt polaroidbilde av tre unge kvinner og deres filosofiprofessor ved Oxford. Fotografiet er som en relikvie fra fortiden, og minner henne om studietiden i England da hun ble kjent med livsglade Shirin, stillferdige Mona og den uortodokse Azur, professoren som utfordret de muslimske venninnenes ulike verdensbilder og deres syn på guddommelighet, frihet og undertrykkelse.Blant middagsgjestenes selvopptatte pludring vandrer Peris tanker stadig tilbake til fotografiet og tiden i Oxford. Men virkeligheten skal snart innhente gjestene rundt det overdådige middagsbordet. Sent på kvelden rammer en rekke terroraksjoner Istanbul, og etter hvert som terroristene og frykten kryper nærmere tvinges Peri til å gjenoppleve skandalen som skilte de fire vennene på polaroidbildet fra hverandre og minnene om en kjærlighet hun desperat har forsøkt å glemme.Peri er en helt uforglemmelig romankarakter - en intelligent, sterk kvinne som forsøker å manøvrere i motsetningsforholdet mellom øst og vest, tro og tvil, familie og frihet. Med den sydende storbyen Istanbul og kjøligkonservative Oxford som bakteppe, fletter hun en spennende og dramatisk handling sammen med aktuelle filosofiske og politiske spørsmål.Tre døtre av Eva ble nominert til Orange Prize, Baileys Prize og IPAC Dublin Literary Award.

The Architect's Apprentice is a dazzling and intricate tale from Elif Shafak, bestselling author of The Bastard of Istanbul.'There were six of us: the master, the apprentices and the white elephant. We built everything together...'Sixteenth century Istanbul: a stowaway arrives in the city bearing an extraordinary gift for the Sultan. The boy is utterly alone in a foreign land, with no worldly possessions to his name except Chota, a rare white elephant destined for the palace menagerie.So begins an epic adventure that will see young Jahan rise from lowly origins to the highest ranks of the Sultan's court. Along the way he will meet deceitful courtiers and false friends, gypsies, animal tamers, and the beautiful, mischievous Princess Mihrimah. He will journey on Chota's back to the furthest corners of the Sultan's kingdom and back again. And one day he will catch the eye of the royal architect, Sinan, a chance encounter destined to change Jahan's fortunes forever.Filled with all the colour of the Ottoman Empire, when Istanbul was the teeming centre of civilisation, The Architect's Apprentice is a magical, sweeping tale of one boy and his elephant caught up in a world of wonder and danger.'Fascinating and gripping' Rosamund Lupton on HonourElif Shafak is the acclaimed author of nine novels including The Bastard of Istanbul, The Forty Rules of Love and Honour, and is the most widely read female writer in Turkey. Her work has been translated into more than forty languages and she contributes to numerous international publications, including the New York Times, Financial Times, Guardian, Independent, Newsweek and Time magazine. She is also a public speaker working with The London Speaker Bureau and is a TED Global speaker. Elif Shafak has previously been longlisted for the Orange Prize, the Baileys Prize and the IMPAC Dublin Award, and shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. She is based in London with her two children. www.elifshafak.com