An important part of history, but I didn't really care for the book.
An important part of history, but I didn't really care for the book.
#BookBinge Day 13: This one #InvolvesFuneral towards the end owing to a family curse. Paired with Turkish tea in Mado while in Istanbul 2 weeks back. As I noted in my review yesterday: “I would have to say that my reading of this novel had been significantly enriched by my being in Istanbul at the time that I was reading it.” More here: https://wp.me/pDlzr-pAz
#SummerSpecial Day 27: I love the #LipsLipstick in this book cover. Paired with a pistachio coupe with baklava here in Mado, Istanbul. Reputed to have the best pistachio ice cream in the world according to my Turkish host back in 2015. 🍨
#SummerSpecial Day 25: #ThreadTheNeedle - the Armenian grandmother in this story loves knitting, making it the perfect title for today‘s prompt. Reading this while at the Bosphorus-Golden Horn sunset cruise while vacationing in Istanbul with family right now. Arrived last Sunday and leaving for Bodrum in two days‘ time. 💕 My second visit in this beautiful city, first time was in 2015, but for work. Loving the city‘s vibe even more now. 💕
“She describes…how once she built a sandcastle near Truro. She tells him she gets seasick. She prefers cats. She likes Dickens. She talks and talks because whenever she is silent, she finds herself looking at him, and her breath grows a little short." -- From The Sandcastle Girls, my love story set amidst the Armenian Genocide, published 11 years ago this week. Shown here with my Armenian sneakers.
Loving this story of an extended Turkish-Armenian family despite their painful history. Wonderful characterisation, quirky contexts and genuine hurt spanning generations. About two-thirds through & hoping it ends as strongly as it began.
CW: incest. Really enjoyed this book. It took me a while, and the author builds up a lot of suspense by flitting between different eras. She used food as a way to title the chapters and also as a metaphor - food is a huge part of the story and each chapter has the title of an ingredient. The suspense led to a satisfying ending, but I am not convinced I have managed to figure out the interconnected family trees - part of the appeal of this!
Read this one for book club. It is utterly heart wrenching and very difficult to stomach. However, it needs to be written about, as this bit of history is not taught in most schools. I never even heard about in college. Beautifully written.
#readaroundtheworld #armenia The son of the Main Character, is the author of this book taking us from his mother‘s deportation and exile from her Armenian home in Azizya through multiple refugee camps to her eventual betrothal in Greece. Along the way she loses her parents and siblings to massacres and despair. Written in a straight forward style with little emotional overtone it is nevertheless an important book about the Armenia diaspora.