Ayshe Talay-Ongan

Paperback, 441 pages
Published February 2012 by Sid Harta Publishers
ISBN
1921829060
edition language
English

Note: A copy of this novel was provided to me by the publisher through NetGalley for purpose of review.

Turquoise: A Love Story by Ayshe Talay-Ongon is a love story with a very cosmopolitan flair. While the central focus is Turkey, the events in this novel take place in countries spanning the globe. The story is set in the 1970’s and 1980’s; a very tumultuous time for relations between those from Turkey and Armenia resulting in acts of violence and bloodshed. Our heroine, Yasmin, is a very confident, highly educated and independent person full of resilience to the difficult conditions and situations surrounding her; quite reminiscent of today’s “modern woman”. She has grown up in Turkey, and lived in New York City as well.

Yasmin is prone to superfluous relationships and one night stands; in her never ending quest to find “Mr. Right”. Through a chance encounter, she runs into a friend from school days and her husband. She immediately feels as if she has met her soulmate; albeit an unattainable one who happens to be married to one of her best friends. The three develop a very close relationship in which Yasmin spends much of her time with the couple and their young son. The fact that they are Armenians poses no obstacle to their friendship, despite hate crimes and strife between the two nationalities at that point in time. Yasmin and her friend never even gave those prejudices a thought back in their school days; nor do they now.

When her close friends move back to Australia for better employment opportunities; Yasmin has much soul searching to do. Her flings grow ever more self destructive, in her attempts to forget the man her heart belongs to; who belongs to another. As her parents and brother have moved back to the United States; her father being a Turkish diplomat; Yasmin decides to give California a try and see if she can find those ever elusive roots she is yearning to put down. She becomes caught up in a desperate, yet futile search for a sense of fulfillment, of belonging while knowing all the while that it eludes her; that her soul mate is unattainable.

She establishes a place for herself in California; and experiences triumphs and tragedies. At last, she propels herself into a loveless marriage, for the sake of security. In an attempt to fill the ever aching void within her; she adopts a baby girl from her home country of Turkey. Life in California falls into a stable yet emotionally tormenting routine for Yasmine. Her daughter becomes the focus of her life and they develop a very strong mother daughter bond; much like that which Yasmine and her own mother share.

Eventually the stress of living a lie starts to take its toll on Yasmine and her soul mate, whose marriage is none too happy, either. Truth has to be faced and life-changing decisions must be made.

This book has the feel of a “reality tv soap opera” both in conversation and detail, but that should appeal to today’s audience, I believe.… (plus d'informations)

Wordy and self indulgent.

I was sent a free Kindle version of this book through NetGalley and out of respect to them, the publishers and the author, I forced myself to read all 450 pages. In my opinion this was not a well written book and I struggled to finish it. Although my review is not favourable, I feel I owe it to future readers to report honestly and without bias so that they can make their own decisions.

So, why did I dislike this book so much? Well, it was extremely wordy, over 150 pages too long, and incredibly self indulgent. A lot of the conversation I found quite immature and the endless ranting about the main character's 'one and only true Love' (with a capital L) was almost impossible to read. She pined after him for endless pages, especially in the last third of the book. I hate to skim read but at times I could do little else.

"My eighteen hours with him...skin on skin, breath in breath. Pristine and ordained. Brimming, Hieros Gamos, sacred union of the beloveds. Our bodies feel like a Homecoming with one another, like a cherished poem remembered verse and line. A sense of deep familiarity, of knowing and awaiting for from a time immemorial." Grammar and punctuation accurately copied.

The story begins in the early 1980s, although it is not until 100 pages into the book that we discover this.
Yasmin (who calls herself Yas when she talks *a lot* to herself), is a Turkish national who moved to the US with her parents to study in an American university. Her father is the Turkish Consul General and the family settle in Los Angeles. Her brother, Memo, stays in America but Yasmin eventually returns to Turkey to work as a child psychologist. She runs into an old school friend, Ani, and her husband, Renan. From this moment on she is smitten with Renan. Ani and Renan are Turkish Armenian and she is Turkish. This was never a problem when they were in school, but as adults, resentments become more apparent. Although the initial introduction to this conflict was little more than a weak conversation, it did develop into an interesting aspect of the narrative.
I have to say I liked Derya, the adopted daughter, who I couldn't help but fall for, but none of the other characters grabbed me in the slightest.

Apparently there is to be a sequel, entitled Emerald, but unfortunately, I think Turquoise is enough for me.… (plus d'informations)