三民網路書店愛霞是十九歲的土耳其女孩，生活在一個伊斯坦堡的大家庭裡，然而，她在成長過程中從沒見過她的父親，私生女──就是別人對她的稱號。她那美麗卻有著叛逆靈魂的母親，還有這個只有女人的大家庭中，每個人都急著扮演著愛霞母親的角色，讓愛霞只想拋開傳統與過去。
而家族中唯一的男人，穆斯塔法，為了對抗家族男人早死的咒詛，二十年前到美國求學，並與美國女子蘿絲結婚後定居於亞利桑納。蘿絲與亞美尼亞前夫所生的女兒──阿瑪諾須，二十一歲，因著自小父母離異，她的生活也分裂為兩半。身為亞美尼亞裔美國人，阿瑪諾須決定展開一趟尋根之旅……
一個渴望拋開過去享受自由的女孩，與一個期待到伊斯坦堡尋根的女孩相遇……她們會激盪出什麼火花，又會掀開怎樣的過往呢？
作者簡介
艾莉芙．夏法克（Elif Shafak)
著有五本小說和一本論文集，曾在土耳其贏得梅夫拉那文學獎和土耳其小說獎。身為亞利桑納大學近東研究學系的助理教授，她往返於土耳其和亞利桑納州的土桑市之間。她曾為《紐約時報》《華盛頓郵報》《洛杉磯時報》《華爾街日報》等報章媒體撰文，國家公共無線電台也曾對她做專題報導。
From one of Turkey's most acclaimed and outspoken writers, a novel about the tangledhistories of two families
In her second novel written in English, Elif Shafak confronts her country's violent past in a vivid and colorful tale set in both Turkey and the United States. At its center is the "bastard" of the title, Asya, a nineteen-year-old woman who loves Johnny Cash and the French Existentialists, and the four sisters of the Kazanci family who all live together in an extended household in Istanbul: Zehila, the zestful, headstrong youngest sister who runs a tattoo parlor and is Asya's mother; Banu, who has newly discovered herself as a clairvoyant; Cevriye, a widowed high school teacher; and Feride, a hypochondriac obsessed with impending disaster. Their one estranged brother lives in Arizona with his wife and her Armenian daughter, Armanoush. When Armanoush secretly flies to Istanbul in search of her identity, she finds the Kazanci sisters and becomes fast friends with Asya. A secret is uncovered that links the two families and ties them to the 1915 Armenian deportations and massacres. Full of vigorous, unforgettable female characters, The Bastard of Istanbul is a bold, powerful tale that will confirm Shafak as a rising star of international fiction.
About the Author:
Elif Shafak is the author of five previous novels including, most recently, The Gaze and The Saint of Incipient Insanities. She splits her time between Istanbul and Tucson, Arizona, where she is an assistant professor of Near Eastern studies at the University of Arizona. Her op-ed pieces have appeared in The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and The Wall Street Journal, and she has been featured on National Public Radio.
