How many stories does it take to get to know a place?
Lifelong residents may write confidently of their homeland, but among the travelogs and novels and poems and memoirs that give shape to a city, I’m partial to books written from the perspective of those still calibrating their relationship to a place. These include children, wide-eyed visitors, and locals caught in the midst of historic transformations.
My debut novel Holiday Country follows a young Turkish American woman who spends her summers on the Turkish Aegean. Not yet all that comfortable with the country’s culture and customs, she’s hyper-aware of her surroundings, interactions, and the linguistic nuances she spends an inordinate amount of time picking apart. All this, she hopes, will give her the answers she’s seeking about herself.
Below, I’ve gathered a list of novels, memoirs, and collections in which Turkey is thrown into high relief. In other words, books reflecting the experiences of those getting to know Turkey—or a new Turkey—inch by inch. Everything to them is peculiar, fascinating, worthy of exploration. It’s that time when all the senses are on high alert. Before everything fades into the background, and becomes once again, the setting for life as usual.
Dare to Disappoint by Özge Samancı
Samancı grew up along the Aegean, and her graphic memoir chronicles her burgeoning understanding of her country through an inquisitive child’s eyes. She recalls crushes on teachers, her admiration of Turkey’s first president, and the difficulty of navigating religious differences as a student. There’s a lot packed into this story from girlhood to university graduate, but approaching convoluted topics with a strong dose of innocence offers an entertaining glimpse into the life of a young woman making sense of a convoluted and evolving country—and her place in it.
The Lovers by Vendela Vida
Yvonne travels from Vermont to Datça, a peninsula in southwestern Turkey, where she and her late husband once honeymooned. Though the area is surrounded by gorgeous beaches and happy vacationers, her experience is more of a harsh and deteriorating environment. Yvonne finds herself often feeling misplaced, on the wrong side of power dynamics, and second-guessing her interactions with various tourists and locals. As an unlikely friendship leads to devastating consequences, Yvonne has to come to terms with her actions—and her past—to escape the heavy sense of loneliness that violently clings to her.
Portrait of a Turkish Family by İrfan Orga
Orga’s memoirs from childhood begin while he’s living in the lap of luxury, with house staff in a konak in the heart of Ottoman Istanbul. In the summer of 1914, his bourgeois world grinds to a halt with the onset of WWI. This book chronicles Istanbul’s transformation as the Ottoman Empire transitions to the Turkish Republic through the lens of a single family. Perhaps most aptly symbolized by Orga’s grandmother, who refuses to abandon her aristocratic airs as life falls apart around her, it’s a tale of pride and survival, and of how to rebuild life again and again without losing hope.
An Island in Istanbul: At Home on Heybeliada by M.A. Whitten
Northern California native and world-traveling diplomat Whitten and her husband become enamored by a trip to Turkey, and eventually make their way once again to Istanbul where they settle on one of the Princes’ Islands, Heybeliada. Whitten’s chronicle of island life is divided into two sections: the first detailing the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of procuring and remodeling an old island home, and the second, an in-depth exploration of life in Istanbul. Written with the friendliness and accessibility of a travel guide, it’s a great read for those unfamiliar with Turkish culture, fans of Peter Mayle’s A Year in Provence, and who love to live vicariously through those building their dream lives abroad.
Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernières
An expansive and gorgeously detailed novel told through the perspectives of an eclectic cast of characters in a Turkish village. Neighbors of various ethnic and religious backgrounds live lives deeply integrated with one another, until war strikes and brings everyone a jarring new perspective on nationality and religion. As developments in war and legislation shape allies and enemies, the villagers find themselves pulled apart from each other in the most shocking of ways. Brimming with witty proverbs, historical anecdotes, heartfelt love stories, and, ultimately, unimaginable grief.
The Four Humors by Mina Seçkin
Turkish-American college student Sibel brings along her American boyfriend for a summer in Istanbul, where she mostly watches soap operas all day. While she juggles taking care of her ailing grandmother, tending to her sister’s eating disorder, and self-diagnosing her own mysterious headaches, she simultaneously avoids and desperately seeks connection with her dead father. As a family secret as complicated as Turkey’s chaotic history begins to unravel, Sibel starts to finally find an end to her grief, and a better understanding of her relationships.
Turkish Coast Through Writers’ Eyes by Rupert Scott
A collection of writing about Turkey’s southwestern coast that includes excerpts from authors and travelers both ancient and contemporary. Perfect to dip in and out of while vacationing on the Turquoise coast, the selections range from explorations of the finer points of Turkish cuisine to underwater discoveries, from chronicles of the plants and animals of the region to the stories behind its archeological ruins. The book also includes excerpts from other writers mentioned in this list, including İrfan Orga and Louis de Bernières.