10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World by Elif Shafak
Tequila Leila experiences heightened awareness in the pulsing seconds after she has been murdered and dumped outside of Istanbul. Although her heart has stopped, her brain has continued to function for 10 minutes and 38 seconds. She reflects on her life and the lives of other outcasts as the Turkish sun rises and her buddies snooze peacefully nearby.
Tequila Leila’s memories transport us back to her childhood in the provinces, where she was raised in a polygamous family with two moms and a father who became more and more authoritarian. This environment was extremely repressive due to tradition and religion. Leila manages to flee to Istanbul, where she enters the sleazy world of sex trafficking and settles down on the famous Street of Brothels.
Leila is resilient and open to beauty, light, and the fundamental ties of friendship while living in a harsh, violent world. The fascinating tales of how Leila came to know and be loved by her friends brilliantly illustrate the secrets and wonders of contemporary Istanbul in Tequila Leila’s Death. It is the members of her chosen family who bring her story to a triumphant and breathtaking finale as her epic trip to the afterlife comes to a close.
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World by Elif Shafak
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This is a breathtakingly lyrical yet realistic elegy to a woman named Leila who, despite growing up in a culture that oppressed and mistreated women (as so many do), refused to let her difficult circumstances break or infuriate her. Her final, lingering thoughts and recollections after she had been killed come to life the tale of a girl whose destiny was fixed by virtue of her gender in a severely patriarchal society that reduced women to being breeders and handmaidens until they dared to flee, at their own risk.
The limited remaining memories of Leila’s life up to that point in time also call to mind the several ladies who were her devoted friends. Like Leila, they had endured trials, oppression, and rejection while travelling down pathways that brought them to their own destiny and to one another. In a dangerous world, they managed to find their position and make the most of it. The place and culture they live in, along with Leila and each of these women (and one man who never forgot or stopped loving his childhood friend), are vividly portrayed. They have all endured hardships, been forced to live on the edge, and have engaged in a lifelong game of avoiding peril, want, suffering, and rejection…
