A celebratory dinner and engagement ceremony is to be held at a large home in Our Village, in southeast Turkey. Halil, the cousin of the future bride, Leyla, is sent to a nearby village to buy the traditional cologne. Leyla's sister, Maral, is told to go door-to-door to remind everyone to attend. Throughout the long day, the other women of the household clean, cook and toil. Meanwhile, a duststorm descends out of nowhere and a menacing mist settles over the village streets. This harrowing tale, which spans sixteen hours and is told through the eyes of a mysterious narrator, delves into the bad blood between two timeless villages where most of the men are heavily armed village guards, and there is money to be made in agriculture, oil, fish farms and more. Geographical complexities, tangled relations, hazy memories and unreliable witnesses make for a story in which perhaps is nothing as it seems... Inspired by the May 2009 massacre of over forty people in a village in the southeastern province of Mardin.

New from the internationally acclaimed winner of the EU Prize for Literature.

About the Author
A short story writer and novelist, Ilhan is the author of four books: Hayattayiz Madem (Everest Yayinlari, 2023); in a novel spanning 1943 to 2018, Amsterdam to Auschwitz, and Aleppo to Istanbul, the Jewish father of two daughters, who has dual citizenship in Turkiye and Holland, encounters a Syrian refugee in the upmarket Istanbul neighborhood of Tesvikiye. Engagement (Nisan Evi, Everest, 2021); a novella based on the true story of a mass murder that took place in May 2009, in southeastern Turkey. Exile (Surgun, Everest Publications, 2010); interconnected stories with themes ranging from the invasion of Iraq to women's rights in Batman, and the fate of laboratory dogs; winner of the 2011 European Union Prize for Literature, published in over 20 countries. Chamber of Dream Merchants (Ruya Tacirleri Odasi, Artemis, 2006); interconnected stories with traces of magic realism. Ilhan's short stories have been published in numerous literary magazines, starting in her youth. Her essays, book reviews and travel writings have appeared in numerous magazine and newspaper supplements. Her stories and essays have been included in 20 national and international anthologies. Ciler Ilhan studied International Relations and Political Science at Bogazici University in Turkiye, and Hotel Management at the Glion Hotel School in Switzerland. She has worked in hotel management, marketing/communications, and publishing (as an editor/writer). She's a member of Turkish and Dutch PEN. Born and raised in Turkiye, she currently lives in the Netherlands. Awards: Exile -European Union Prize for Literature 2011 (euprizeliterature.eu) Exile -Prix Du Livre Lorientales 2017, finalist "Notable Short Story Award", Yasar Nabi Nayir Youth Awards 1993


Book Information
ISBN 9781912545391
Author Ciler Ilhan
Format Paperback
Page Count 120
Imprint Istros Books
Publisher Istros Books