What is Denise Derya Brandt reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Denise Derya Brandt, author of Istanbul Dreaming: A Novel.

Her entry begins:

I tend to read books in bursts. I may go weeks without reading a book and then I’ll read three in one week. (I tend to write this way, too). Often, I listen to audiobooks from the library, but if there is a book I’m specifically trying to learn from, either because I admire the author’s writing or because of its subject matter, I will buy and read the paperback. I currently have a huge stack of books I need to read, many authored by people I know, but I’ve been prioritizing reading library books before I have to return them. What’s that saying? “Something that can be done at any time is often done at no time.”

These are a few books I enjoyed most recently.

The Pearl That Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi – I recently re-read this to prepare for her newest novel, The City of Widows, which is a stand-alone novel centered on the same protagonist. The novel follows Rahima, a girl in modern Afghanistan who is dressed as a boy so she can work and move freely, her story braided with that of her great-great- grandmother Shekiba a century earlier, who survives her own version of the same constraints. Nadia brings Afghan women’s stories to life. And this important story breaks your heart and frustrates you, but you cannot and should not look away. I keep coming back to Nadia’s writing because...[read on]

About Istanbul Dreaming, from the publisher:

For fans of Alka Joshi and Marjan Kamali, a gripping historical novel set in 1950s Turkey about a young woman who flees an arranged marriage to pursue independence in Istanbul, where she finds forbidden love with an American airman.

In 1950s Turkey, against the backdrop of the social and political unrest that will culminate in Turkey’s 1960 military coup d'état, a dutiful daughter is torn between family expectations and her dream of becoming a modern Turkish woman.

One night, seventeen-year-old Ayten sneaks away to Istanbul for a night of dancing with her best friend. When her father discovers her rebellion, he forces her into an arranged religious marriage to a distant relative who bullied her as a child. Initially, Ayten resigns herself to her fate—but after her husband sexually assaults her on their wedding night, she flees him and her family for haven in Istanbul.

Living with friends and working as a seamstress at her friend’s boutique, Ayten tries to rebuild her life. Then she meets Earl, an American airman, and they begin to fall in love—but as their connection deepens, secrets and her past threaten to upend all she’s built. Torn between her family and a future with Earl, Ayten must decide what she’s willing to sacrifice for freedom and forbidden love.

Visit Denise Derya Brandt's website.

Writers Read: Denise Derya Brandt.

--Marshal Zeringue