Elif Shafak is an author whose books I’ve been eyeing for a while now. Especially There Are Rivers in the Sky has piqued my interest, which I finally acquired last month. Ironically enough, it’s Honor that was my introduction to this author. This is one of Shafak’s first books, published in 2011. However, as this is a new-to-me author, I wanted to read this book inDutch, just for sure. I listened to the audiobook, because that was easily available to me. Was this novel a nice introduction to Shafak’s work? The premise sounds right up my alley anyway!
About the book
Honor by Elif Shafak Published by Viking on March 7, 2013
Pages: 352
ISBN: 9780670784837
Genres: Adult, Historical fiction, Literary fiction
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️,5
An honor killing shatters and transforms the lives of Turkish immigrants in 1970s London
Internationally bestselling Turkish author Elif Shafak’s new novel is a dramatic tale of families, love, and misunderstandings that follows the destinies of twin sisters born in a Kurdish village. While Jamila stays to become a midwife, Pembe follows her Turkish husband, Adem, to London, where they hope to make new lives for themselves and their children.
In London, they face a choice: stay loyal to the old traditions or try their best to fit in. After Adem abandons his family, Iskender, the eldest son, must step in and become the one who will not let any shame come to the family name. And when Pembe begins a chaste affair with a man named Elias, Iskender will discover that you could love someone with all your heart and yet be ready to hurt them.
Just published to great acclaim in England, Honor is a powerful, gripping exploration of guilt and innocence, loyalty and betrayal, and the trials of the immigrant, as well as the love and heartbreak that too often tear families apart.
My review
After finishing this book, I felt so conflicted about my opinion. Yes, I enjoyed my reading experience, but I must admit that it took me a long while till this book fully captivated me. This mainly has to do with the narration of the audiobook, but this is only understandable if you speak Dutch. However, the fact I just couldn’t resonate with these characters also plays a major part in my conflicted thoughts. I was drawn to the premise, but I just didn’t like the characters. Even though they all had their fair share of struggles, they just didn’t stick. Their inner conflict has been well-depicted and so is their growth, but just weeks after finishing this book I nearly forgot about them.
What does stick however are the themes. Shafak explores multiple topics, such as navigating between two cultures. Pembe and her husband have been raised in Turkey, she in a small Kurdish village near the Eufrat, he in Istanbul. So their lives couldn’t be more different. They both experienced intergenerational trauma, which we gradually learn about. They have three kids, of whom two are born in Turkey. Their youngest is born after the family relocated in London. So for the eldest kids and their parents, navigating between two cultures is part of their day-to-day life. Whereas the children don’t seem to struggle with this aspect of their lives, mother Pembe obviously does. Once the story progresses, we learn how. Furthermore, the author touches upon a gambling addiction and the concept of honor. This explains the title really well, because the honor of the family is such an important aspect in Islamic culture. This constant fight between what’s expected from their native culture and what these characters encounter in the UK and Western society is something that has captured really well.
The storytelling is what made it hard for me to be fully engrossed in this novel from the start. Shafak jumps back and forth between time, places, characters and so on. This is logical and necessary for the concept of the plot, but at first it feels like there are too many side plots that don’t make any sense at all. Gradually, everything starts falling into place which shows how amazingly this book is constructed. The POV switching combined with switching between first and third person is kind of confusing as well, but once I got the hang of it, I just didn’t mind anymore. At some point, I just couldn’t put the book down because I wanted to know how everything would work out for this family in the end. The revelations towards the end made me gasp, as these were so unexpected for me. I don’t have anything to compare this book with, so I don’t know how this author’s writing has evolved so far.
As stated in the first paragraph of this review, Honor is my introduction to Elif Shafak and after needing some time getting used to the storytelling and such, I definitely had an enjoyable reading experience. However, I just couldn’t resonate with these characters. The themes on the other hand are explored really well and they are actually pretty serious and heavy. The audiobook narration annoyed me to bits though, but I just pushed through. This book makes me curious for more books by this author.