Elif Şafak Knihy

Co když v okamžiku smrti lidská mysl ještě několik převzácných minut pracuje? Přesně řečeno, deset minut třicet osm vteřin… Každá posmrtná minuta Leile přináší intenzivní smyslovou vzpomínku: chuť kořeněného guláše z kozy, kterou její otec obětoval na oslavu narození dlouho očekávaného syna; chuť směsi cukru s citronem, jíž si ženy depilují nohy, zatímco muži navštěvují mešitu; vůni kávy s kardamomem, kterou Leila pije s pohledným studentem v bordelu, kde je zaměstnaná. A všechny tyto vzpomínky jí také připomínají věrné přátele, s nimiž se sblížila v klíčových momentech svého života – přátele, kteří se ji nyní zoufale snaží najít…

Ella Rubinsteinová má manžela, tři dospívající děti a přijemný domov, zkrátka vše, co by z ní mělo dělat sebevědomou a spokojenou ženu. Přesto však Ella cítí ve svém životě prázdno – prázdno, které bylo kdysi vyplněné láskou. A tak když Ella čte rukopis o básníkovi Rúmím ze třináctého století a Šamsovi z Tabrízu a jeho čtyřiceti pravidlech života a lásky, rozhodne se změnit od základů svůj život a vydá se na cestu za tajemným autorem a jeho dílem. Cesta naplněná súfistickým mysticismem zavede Ellu i čtenáře do exotického světa, kde víra a láska jsou podrobeny srdce drásajícím zkouškám.

A novel about belonging and identity, love and trauma, nature and renewal, from the Booker-shortlisted author of 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World.

'Tell me. What would be the right gift to send to a man who has everything?' 'An elephant, my Lord. The biggest animal on the land.' Sixteenth century Istanbul: a young stowaway arrives in the city bearing an extraordinary gift for the Sultan. The boy has no wordly possessions to his name except Chota, a rare and valuable white elephant destined for the palace menagerie. So begins an epic adventure that will see young Jahan rise from his lowly origins to the highest ranks of the Sultan's court. Along the way he will meet deceitful courtiers and false friends, gypsies, animal tamers, and the beautiful, mischievous Princess Mihrimah. He will journey on Chota's back to the furthest corners of the Sultan's kingdom and back again. And one day he will catch the eye of the royal architect, Sinan, a chance encounter destined to change Jahan's fortunes forever. Filled with the scents, sounds and sights of the Ottoman Empire, when Istanbul was the teeming centre of civilisation, The Architect's Apprentice is a magical, sweeping tale of one boy and his elephant caught up in a world of wonder and danger.

Longlisted for the 2008 Orange Fiction Prize, Elif Shafak's The Bastard of Istanbul is a tale of an extraordinary family curse and clashing cultural identities in the mystical and mysterious city of Istanbul. One rainy afternoon in Istanbul, a woman walks into a doctor's surgery. 'I need to have an abortion', she announces. She is nineteen years old and unmarried. What happens that afternoon will change her life. Twenty years later, Asya Kazanci lives with her extended family in Istanbul. Due to a mysterious family curse, all the Kaznci men die in their early forties, so it is a house of women, among them Asya's beautiful, rebellious mother Zeliha, who runs a tattoo parlour; Banu, who has newly discovered herself as clairvoyant; and Feride, a hypochondriac obsessed with impending disaster. And when Asya's Armenian-American cousin Armanoush comes to stay, long hidden family secrets connected with Turkey's turbulent past begin to emerge. 'Wonderfully magical, incredible, breathtaking...will have you gasping with disbelief in the last few pages' Sunday Express 'A beautiful book, the finest I have read about Turkey' Irish Times 'Heartbreaking...the beauty of Islam pervades Shafak's book' Vogue

The new novel from the Booker-shortlisted, internationally bestselling author of The Island of Missing Trees and 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World ***** There Are Rivers in the Sky is a rich, sweeping novel set between the 19th century and modern times, about love and loss, memory and erasure, hurt and healing, centred around three enchanting characters living on the banks of the River Thames and the River Tigris - their lives all curiously touched by the epic of Gilgamesh. ***** 'Elif Shafak is a unique and powerful voice in world literature' Ian McEwan 'Shafak makes a new home for us in words' Colum McCann 'One of the best writers in the world today' Hanif Kureishi

"En un convulso 1974, mientras el ejército turco ocupa el norte de Chipre, Kostas, un griego cristiano, y Defne, una turca musulmana, se reúnen en secreto bajo las vigas ennegrecidas de la taberna La Higuera Feliz, donde cuelgan ristras de ajos, cebollas y pimientos. Allí, lejos del fragor de la guerra, crece a través de una cavidad en el techo una higuera, testigo del amor de los dos jóvenes, pero también de sus desencuentros, de la destrucción de Nicosia y de la trágica separación de los amantes. Décadas más tarde, en el norte de Londres, Ada Kazantzakis acaba de perder a su madre. A sus dieciséis años, nunca ha visitado la isla en la que nacieron sus padres y está desesperada por desenredar años de secretos, división y silencio. La única conexión que tiene con la tierra de sus antepasados es un Ficus carica que crece en el jardín de su casa. La isla del árbol perdido es una historia llena de magia sobre la pertenencia y la identidad, el amor y el dolor, y la asombrosa capacidad de regeneración a través de la memoria." -- provided by publisher

'My mother died twice. I promised myself I would not let her story be forgotten . . .' Pembe and Adem Toprak leave Turkey for London. There they make new lives for their family. Yet the traditions and beliefs of their home come with them - carried in the blood of their children, Iskender and Esma. Trapped by past mistakes, the Toprak children find their lives torn apart and transformed by a brutal and chilling crime. Set in Turkey and London in the 1970s, Honour explores pain and loss, loyalty and betrayal, the clash of tradition and modernity, as well as the love and heartbreak that can tear any family apart. Praise for Elif Shafak: 'Vivid storytelling, a gripping novel . . . scenes blaze with the force of parable.' Sunday Telegraph 'A stunning novel. Exotic, evocative and utterly gripping.' The Times '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 'Extraordinarily skilfully crafted . . . with Shakespearean twists and turns, omens and enigmas, prophecies and destinies.' Independent