Elif Shafak - 10 minute 38 second

A minute after her death, Tequila Leila's consciousness began to fade, as slowly and gradually as the waves of a receding tide ebb. Since his brain cells had no access to blood, by this time a state of complete lack of oxygen had occurred. His brain function did not stop completely. At least not immediately.

Because in the minutes after death, while her body is lying in a garbage container, Leila's mind conjures up memories one after the other: the taste of the spicy goat stew, which was used to celebrate the long-awaited birth of her little brother; the sight of the boiling lemon sugar resin with which the women shaved their legs while the men went to the mosque; the smell of the cardamom coffee she shared with a handsome college student at the brothel where she worked. And every memory recalls the friends with whom he shared the most important moments of his life - the friends who are now desperately trying to find him...

Elif Shafak's latest novel presents the outcasts of modern Istanbul: prostitutes, transvestites, refugees, women fleeing domestic violence and living their days in fear of honor killings. But in this dark, cruel world, where neither compassion nor help is given to those who do not obey the orders of God, fate or men in power, there is still some hope. Friendship and love, if they don't free you from suffering, but give them the dignity and joy that makes life livable, makes people human.