Check out this book, "Bliss", by O.Z. Livaneli

[Sequoia]

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/0312360533.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_SCLZZZZZZZ_AA240_SH20_.jpg

From School Library Journal
Adult/High School—Left in the barn to hang herself as a consequence of her uncle raping her, 15-year-old Meryem defies local tradition and refuses to do it. Her cousin Cemal, recently a soldier in the army, who grew up with her in a tiny village in eastern Turkey, is sent to take her to Istanbul and is told to kill her on the way. On the train, Meryem's eyes are opened to city women who wear modern-day dress and speak and eat in front of men. Cemal cannot kill her, and after a short stay with his brother in Istanbul, he goes to a war buddy who gives them a place of temporary refuge, a fish farm on a cove in western Turkey. Here they meet a professor who has run away from his privileged life in Istanbul and is living on a large sailboat. He invites the two cousins to join him as his crew and companions. The dynamics created by this union give these three characters a new direction in which to take their lives. Teens will be drawn to the plight of a girl who has been raped and is then treated as the perpetrator of the crime. Livaneli shows village life and modern city life as two separate realities that coexist in Turkey today. Students interested in human rights and global studies will also appreciate this novel.—Ellen Bell, Amador Valley High School, Pleasanton, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

amazon.com

[MADem]

1. About The Author (helluva fellah)

Omer Zülfü Livaneli was born in Ilgin, Turkey in 1946.

Livaneli published his first book A Child in Purgatory in 1978. His first novel, The Eunuch of Constantinople, received the Balkan Literary Award in 1997and was published in Spain, Korea, Greece, Switzerland, and Germany. In 2001, Livaneli's second novel, One Cat One Man One Death, received the Yunus Nadi Novel Award in Turkey. In 2003, Livaneli published his latest novel, Bliss.

Livaneli has also composed songs, ballets, theatrical scores, and soundtracks, and directed three feature films: Iron Earth, Copper Sky, Mist, and Shahmaran.

In 2002, Livaneli was elected as a Member of Parliament from the Republican People's Party (CHP). He is also a member of the Turkish Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. He is one of the founders of the Turkish-Kurdish peace movement, as well as the initiator of the Campaign against Violence in Turkey.




http://www.pen.org/page.php/prmID/1265

[Sequoia]

2. Thank you for the information.

Someone on Amazon didn't have fine words for this book but I think it's a matter of translation. I understood everything and good writers don't have to spell everything out which most American authors do.

[MADem]

3. Eh, consider the source. Those that can, do. Those that can't, gripe about how others do!

The guy is an award winner.


I think the story would make a great film myself!