Elif Shafak - Becsület

Elif Shafak's East-West story begins and ends at the majestic Euphrates River, where two twin girls lived in a Kurdish village. There, "honor was not only an adjective, it was also used as a name. A man could give the name Honor to his child, provided that he was born a son. Honor and respect were the attributes of men. The old, the middle-aged, the young, and even the even a baby boy who smelled of milk deserved respect. Women, however, did not. They had another word for their class: shame." One of the twin girls was married to a Turkish boy and taken to Istanbul and then to London. There they hoped to create a new life for themselves and their children, but no matter how far they traveled, they could not get rid of the traditions, beliefs and duties that they wanted to leave behind - they carried with them in their blood. This is the reason why a member of the Toprak family indulges in a gruesome murder.