The Bastard Of Istanbul

Description

Elif Shafak’s 2006 novel The Bastard of Istanbul weaves together the stories of two rival cultures, those of the Turks and the Armenians—peoples who haven’t yet healed from the wound opened by the 1915 Armenian Genocide. Shafak uses the stories of two families—the Turkish Kazancis and the Armenian Tchakhmakchians—who live seemingly disparate lives on two different continents but are connected by a past that reveals how deeply interconnected these families and historical enemies are.
Shafak uses food as the novel’s overarching theme. Food is cultural talisman, and something that unites families. By the end of the novel, it functions as a salve that helps to heal past wounds. The novel begins in 1986, amidst chaos in Istanbul. Nineteen-year-old Zeliha Kazanci is heading to the gynecologist’s office, where she intends to get an abortion. Ultimately, she decides against it and returns home. Around the same time, Rose Tchakhmakchian, a Kentucky native, is grocery shopping in Tucson, Arizona when she spots an attractive and familiar-looking young man shopping for garbanzo beans. She recognizes him as a student at the University of Arizona and introduces herself. After their brief conversation, she prepares to drive home with her infant daughter, Armanoush, whom she’s decided to call “Amy.” Rose then makes a last-minute decision to return to the store. She offers the young man a ride home. He accepts, they initiate a relationship and, eventually, they marry.