Sonia Vadlamani

Kulin’s tale revolves around the alleged neutrality of Turkey in World War 2 and how it impacted the lives of those of Turkish origin, especially Jews and those who married them, and how they set out to make their way back home to their secular nation which is ready to offer refuge to its citizens, regardless of their religion. Loved the historic insights, what I found unsatisfactory for the writer’s depiction of the characters and their emotions. Too much time is wasted on a character, Sabiha for example, and her guilt from the past, and then abruptly she’s taken off focus. Same with Selva’s concern about if Rafo still loves her, after all their struggle, and then..nothing. Macit sees his wife struggling and withdrawing, yet is happier to muse about Turkey and her diplomatic relations and not his domestic problems..all characters at some point wonder if their partners are having an affair..it’s exasperating how they all jump to this conclusion instead of just..communicating with their partner…for heaven’s sake. Some of the glory is reclaimed during the final pages…the train journey, the escape plan hatched to safeguard Jews from brutal SS soldiers, the camaraderie and common struggle of the co-passengers..the book finally becomes un-putdownable for me there, a small reward for realllly trying to keep up with a narrative that honestly tries your patience really hard. I doubt if I’ll brave any of her other translated works, especially as I suspect that the translation is to blame as well. Save for the historical insights, I didn’t relish this read much.