On a spring evening in Istanbul, Peri is on her way to a dinner party - a night of luxury a far cry from her upbringing. But when her handbag is stolen her world shifts violently. She starts to doubt how she got here: a traumatic Istanbul childhood, student years in Oxford, the rebellious professor who led her and best friends Shirin and Mona to question everything - Islam, love, life, even God - and the scandal that tore them all apart. Over one desperate night she tries to make sense of a past she has tried to forget - but can we ever escape who we once were?
Shirin, Peri and Mona, they were the most unlikely of friends. They were the Sinner, the Believer and the Confused.
Industry Reviews
A terrific book. Poetic, poignant, trenchant. -- Ian Rankin
An intelligent, fierce and beguiling read * Financial Times *
A thoughtful, charming book that offers a connection to other worlds, perspectives and possibilities * Sunday Times *
An intense, discursive and absorbing novel * Observer *
One of the most important writers at work today, Elif Shafak eloquently explores Turkey's tumultuous present and past. Her magnificent latest moves between Istanbul and Oxford in a fascinating exploration of faith and friendship, rich and poor, and the devastating clash of tradition and modernity * Independent *
A brilliant and moving novel. Elif Shafak writes about religion without superficiality or special pleading, retaining a sense of its impossible possibility or its possible impossibility. Three Daughters of Eve is a remarkable accomplishment -- Richard Holloway
Elif Shafak's writing leaps off the page. In Three Daughters of Eve she takes us spine-tinglingly right under the skin of three women, exposing the strains of friendship through love and loss. An utterly engrossing read. -- Frances Osborne, bestselling author of The Bolter
Shafak's topical 10th novel is both an interrogation and a defence of Muslim identity -- Rebecca Rose * Financial Times *
Luscious, heartbreaking, completely absorbing. It is a full-blown saga of emotion and character, straddling countries, cultures and languages, exploring its women's ambitions and desires; and at the same time a steady-eyed examination of the nameless rules - of femininity, duty, belief and behaviour - that keep us in line and under control. This is an absolutely consuming novel about women who know what they want, and a warning about the price we pay, written with the fluency and depth of an author at the very top of her game. -- Bidisha
Exuberant, epic and comic, fantastical and realistic . . . like all good stories it conveys deeper meanings about human experience -- Financial Times on 'The Architect's Apprentice'
A powerful book; thoughtful, provoking and compassionate -- Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat, on 'Honour'
A brave and passionate novel -- Paul Theroux on 'Bastard of Istanbul'
Vivid storytelling... that explores the darkest aspects of faith and love -- Sunday Telegraph on 'Honour'
Moving, subtle and ultimately hopeful, Honour is further proof that Shafak is the most exciting Turkish novelist to reach western readers in years * Irish Times on 'Honour' *
