‘It was the happiest moment of my life, though I didn’t know it.’ So begins this exquisite book by Nobel Prize-winning Pamuk (author of My Name is Red), and a love affair that can only be played out surreptitiously, in the seamier quarters of Istanbul. Kemal is a young man from the fading bourgeoisie of Turkey about to marry into comfortable wealth, but his encounter with the stunning Füsun, a poor distant relative shamed out of Kemal’s family for competing in a beauty contest, creates a lasting emotional fissure. Pulled between his glittering circle and Füsun’s impoverished world, he begins to collect objects obsessively. An enchanting novel, seamlessly translated by writer Maureen Freely.
WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE A deeply moving portrait of a torturous love affair that shows Istanbul in all its complex beauty. 'An enthralling, immensely enjoyable piece of storytelling.' The Guardian 'Intimate and nuanced . . . a classic, spacious love story.' The New York Review of Books 'A resounding confirmation that Orhan Pamuk is one of the great novelists of his generation.' Washington Post
Kamal lives a life of cosmopolitan glamour, exploring the restaurants and boutiques of Istanbul with his friends and fiancé. In the newly modern city, they pride themselves on their liberal attitudes and Western style.
A chance encounter with Fusun, a working-class shop-girl, begins a long, obsessive love affair, one that draws him deep into Istanbul's complex history, and uncovers the forces of class and gender that still control its inhabitants' lives.
