Honor

A dramatic, heartbreaking tale of families, love, and misunderstanding - longlisted for the Asian Man Booker Prize and The Women's Prize for Fiction

Twin sisters are born in the mid - 1940s in a small Kurdish village on the border of Turkey and Syria. Jamila becomes a local midwife, feared and respected for her healing powers and psychic ability. Her sister, Pembe, marries Adem, and they immigrate to London in the 1970s, hoping to make new lives for themselves and their three children. Bitter and frustrated with his new life, Adem moves out and Iskender, their eldest son, must step in as keeper of the family's honor. But when Pembe begins to spend time with another man, Iskender will discover that you could love someone with all your heart and yet be ready to hurt them.

A novel filled with "Shakespearian twists and turns, omens and enigmas, prophecies and destinies fulfilled" (The Independent), Honor offers a powerful and gripping exploration og guilt and innocence, loyalty and betrayal, and the controversial issue of honor killings as it tragically plays out in one family's life.

"An enduring story with near-biblical themes... Shafak writes beautifully and maintains a high level of tension."

- The New Yorker

"Gripping, tragic, and profoundly heartening... (An) enthralling story that examines the archaic custom of honor killing and questions the very nature of the honor code."

- MS. Magazine

"A trenchant, dazzlingly imaginative, suspenseful, mystical, and socially astute novel."

- Booklist