The author of 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World, our Monthly Spotlight title for July, talks about the authors who have inspired her, making the invisible visible, and her ‘slightly insane’ writing routine
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World
Written by Elif Shafak
- Shortlisted
- The Booker Prize 2019
- Published by Viking
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An intensely beautiful and haunting novel from Elif Shafak about the wonder of life, the mystery of death and the strange space in between
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 bubbling vats of lemon and sugar women use to wax their legs while 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.
Elif Shafak
Elif Shafak is an award-winning British-Turkish novelist. She writes in both Turkish and English, and has published 19 books, 12 of which are novels
More about Elif Shafak Elif Shafak reads from 10 Minutes 38 Seconds In This Strange World
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