Arpna Ashok Odhano

It is the story of the sinner, the believer, and the confused was written by a Turkish-British novelist Elif Shafak and was published in June 2016 by Bloomsbury publishing. The book comprises four parts having several chapters and 365 pages. The genre of his book is contemporary fiction. The theme of this book is uncertainty, debate on God, belief and culture clash, the odd friendship of a trio, love, jealousy, disgrace, and remorse. Same as the previous book, “10 minutes and 38 seconds in this strange world”, this story is settled in Istanbul and revolves around Oxford University and back to Istanbul. This story is about Shirin(the sinner), Mona(the believer), Peri(the confused) the three friends, and their professor Azur. Peri, a girl of uncertainty between yes and no, was the daughter of religious mother Selma and her father Mensur, who had a belief in socialism and modernism. Her childhood wasn’t normal, she encountered quarrels of her parents, her brother’s imprisonment, and a baby in mist. The baby in the mist was something that gave her extreme agony, and her religious mother took her to an exorcist who beat her with a stick to get the evil spirit out from her body. When she shared about the baby in the mist with her father, he didn't take it seriously, that it is an illusion. She had many questions to ask God and wanted him to apologize for that much injustice everywhere. For higher studies, she went to Oxford University. From here started her new journey. Oxford University gave her different experiences, good and bad both. There she got two friends Shirin and Mona exactly the opposite of each other. By religion they both were Muslims but when Mona used to say “I feel proud that I am a Muslim”, then Shirin used to say “ How can I feel proud of something that is not earned by me, it is given to me by my birth”. Here Peri also met professor Azur who used to teach a course at the university named “GOD”. Peri was her student and he was the only person with whom peri shared about the baby in mist and her family quarrels because of God. Reading Azur’s books and listening to him made Peri fall in love with him. When Peri got to know that Azur is having an affair with her friend Shirin, she was jealous and wanted Azur to love her back. Her jealousy became a source of humiliation and disgrace to Professor Azur and the separation of three friends. Years later, Peri atoned for her sins and the last call of her life was to Azur to ask for forgiveness. The book is written in a very unique style. One chapter of the book is concerned with Peri’s present life, and the other is about the flashback of her life. But these chapters are so well written that there is no confusion while reading. Elif Shafak is an amazing author, the way she starts the story and takes it to an end is praiseworthy. This book expresses how jealousy can convert an innocent person into a rebellion and if you make a mistake then you should have that much strength to admit it. Three daughters of eve, the title itself is captivating. The story is good enough to read. I would recommend this book to Elif Shafak’s fans.