10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World

An intensely powerful new novel from the best-selling author of The Bastard of Istanbul and Honour

'In the first minute following her death, Tequila Leila's consciousness began to ebb, slowly and steadily, like a tide receding from the shore. Her brain cells, having run out of blood, were now completely deprived of oxygen. But they did not shut down. Not right away...'

For Leila, each minute after her death brings a sensuous memory: the taste of spiced goat stew, sacrificed by her father to celebrate the long-awaited birth of a son; the sight of bubbling vats of lemon and sugar which the women use to wax their legs while the men attend mosque; the scent of cardamom coffee that Leila shares with a handsome student in the brothel where she works. Each memory, too, recalls the friends she made at each key moment in her life - friends who are now desperately trying to find her. . .

PREZENTAT PENTRU PREMIUL BOOKER 2019 „Asteptati-va descrieri vibrante, vii si deschizatoare de ochi ale vietii din Orientul Mijlociu propulsate de o poveste tandra, totul in„ Vanity Fair ”, o proza obsedanta, frumoasa si considerata a lui Shafak, incredibil de senzuala, poetica si evocatoare, Pandora Sykes, The Inalt Minim "Bogat inaltator ... scriind cu adevarat frumos" Nicola Sturgeon "In primul minut dupa moartea ei, constiinta Tequilei Leila a inceput sa scada, incet si constant, ca o maree care se retrage de pe tarm ..." Pentru Leila, in fiecare minut dupa moartea ei, isi aminteste o amintire senzuala: tocana de capra condimentata, sacrificata de tatal ei pentru a sarbatori nasterea unui fiu dorit; clocote cu lamaie si zahar pentru a creste picioarele femeilor in timp ce barbatii sunt la rugaciune; cafeaua de cardamom pe care o imparte cu un student frumos din bordelul unde lucreaza.