LoveReading Says
From the author of The Silence of Scheherazade, Defne Suman’s At the Breakfast Table is an absorbing novel to savour over time. Told from four points of view, it paints vibrant portraits of a century of history as a family gather for the 100th birthday of celebrated artist, Shirin Saka.
The family have invited friend and journalist Burak to interview Shirin to mark this momentous occasion. While Shirin’s devoted servant strives to protect her, she’s compelled to unbridle decades of silent suffering that have long lain buried. Suffering related to the psychological impact of imperial outsiders fighting over her home.
With her grandchildren unaware of the secrets Shirin paints on a wall, the novel’s multi-narrative structure comes into its own as a web of intrigue. Brimming with an atmospheric sense of place, and simmering with many forms of love, At the Breakfast Table is a haunting novel of the highest order.
Joanne Owen
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At the Breakfast Table Synopsis
Buyukada, Turkey, 2017. In the glow of a late summer morning, family gather for the 100th birthday of the famous artist Shirin Saka. It ought to be a time of fond reminiscence, looking back on a long and fruitful artistic career, on memories spanning almost a century.
But the deep past is something Shirin has spent a lifetime trying to conceal. Her grandchildren, Nur and Fikret, and great-grandchild, Celine, do not know what she's hiding, though they are intimately aware of the secret's psychological consequences. The siblings invite family friend and investigative journalist Burak along to interview Shirin – in celebration of her centenary, and also in the hope of persuading her to open up.
Eventually Shirin begins to express her pain the only way she knows how. She paints a story onto her dining room wall, revealing a history wiped from public consciousness and generations of her family's history.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781800247024 |
| Publication date: |
14th September 2023 |
| Author: |
Defne Suman |
| Publisher: |
Apollo an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
416 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Literary Fiction
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| Other Genres: |
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| Recommendations: |
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Defne Suman Press Reviews
'In At the Breakfast Table, Defne Suman, one of Turkey's most popular writers, writes about family secrets, people's inner problems, love and the losses through life. Suman builds on Eastern philosophy and yoga, among other things, when she is to shed light on the book's great secret' -- Anne Buset Vassbotn (Norway)
'It is very easy for Greek readers to love Suman, to identify with her heroes, to look for their own ancestral memories among the memories of her heroes. But the most important thing about a novel is that it hides a beautiful story, and the author knows how to tell it' -- Erika Athanasiou (Greece)
'The image of the Prinkipo island with its carriages, bicycles, the blue sea that surrounds it, its blooming flowers and purple bougainvillea, give a brilliant tone to the novel. The historical touch offers realism and mystery' - Lefki Sarantinou (Greece)
'At the Breakfast Table is an excellent novel in the footsteps of modern Turkish literature as defined by Livaneli and Pamuk. It is a well-written book which reminds us that history is not necessarily what we learn in school' -- Angelos Koutsoukis (Greece)
'Suman listens and understands a wounded geography with an open heart - a trait that is rarely found among Turkish intellectuals. She challenges the common belief and narrates beautifully' -- Derya Beyatli, Yeni Duzen Newspaper (Turkey)
In At the Breakfast Table Suman continues to explore the themes and tropes that prevail in her previous novels, presenting them to the reader in new dimensions... Altogether, these premises establish a narrative network of signification, through which the philosophical core of Suman's work can be discerned' -- UElker Goekberk, Reed College
'Defne Suman brings lightness to the hearts of her readers as the characters of At the Breakfast Table reclaim their identity and freedom from the burden of family secrets and the false pretense of living as if no sin has been committed in this land' -- Yaprak Cetinkaya, Pozitif Magazine (Turkey) -
About Defne Suman
Defne Suman was born in Istanbul and grew up on Buyukada. She gained a Masters in sociology from the Bosphorus University then worked as a teacher in Thailand and Laos where she studied Far Eastern philosophy and mystic disciplines. She later continued her studies in Oregon, USA and now lives in Athens with her husband. The Silence of Scheherazade was published by Head of Zeus in 2021.
Author Photo Credit: Asli Girgin
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