Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers
In a small village outside Istanbul, Sinan, a struggling Kurdish grocer, hears
an odd and ominous rumbling. In the rush of destruction that follows, his
first thought is for his young son, buried beneath the earthquake's debris --
then for his wife and daughter. It is an impulse that will torment him for
years to come.
Gardens of Water is a stunning and inspiring debut. At its center are
two families, and the complexities of culture and faith that divide them.
Sinan's 15-year-old daughter, Irem, dreams of escaping the drudgery
tradition expects of her and finds refuge and hope in Dylan, the 19-year-old
son of American missionaries. As their love develops through chance
encounters and furtive meetings, Sinan is forced to make decisions both
tragic and inevitable. His inexorable journey to the ultimate betrayal is
one, as a father, he could never have imagined.
The regrets of age and the passion of youth, the bond between father
and daughter, the desire for a different life, the desperate longing to
honor tradition while finding a small measure of happiness outside it --
these are the themes around which Drew has fashioned his unforgettable
novel. Raw, emotional, and superbly told, Gardens of Water illuminates
much more than the differences that divide us; it immerses us in the common
ground we all share.
(Spring 2008 Selection)
Powerful, emotional, and beautifully written, Alan Drew's stunning first novel brings to life two unforgettable families-one Kurdish, one American-and the sacrifice and love that bind them together.
In a small town outside Istanbul, Sinan Basioglu, a devout Muslim, and his wife, Nilüfer, are preparing for their nine-year-old son's coming-of-age ceremony. Their headstrong fifteen-year-old daughter, ¿rem, resents the attention her brother, Ismail, receives from their parents. For her, there was no such festive observance-only the wrapping of her head in a dark scarf and strict rules that keep her hidden away from boys and her friends. But even before the night of the celebration, ¿rem has started to change, to the dismay of her Kurdish father. What Sinan doesn't know is that much of her transformation is due to her secret relationship with their neighbor, Dylan, the seventeen-year-old American son of expatriate teachers.
¿rem sees Dylan as the gateway to a new life, one that will free her from the confines of conservative Islam. Yet the young man's presence and Sinan's growing awareness of their relationship affirms Sinan's wish to move his family to the safety of his old village, a place where his children would be sheltered from the cosmopolitan temptations of Istanbul, and where, as the civil war in the south wanes, he hopes to raise his children in the Kurdish tradition.
But when a massive earthquake hits in the middle of the night, the Basioglu family is faced with greater challenges. Losing everything, they are forced to forage for themselves, living as refugees in their own country. And their survival becomes dependent on their American neighbors, to whom they are unnervingly indebted. As love develops between ¿rem and Dylan, Sinan makes a series of increasingly dangerous decisions that push him toward a betrayal that will change everyone's lives forever.
The deep bonds among father, son, and daughter; the tension between honoring tradition and embracing personal freedom; the conflict between cultures and faiths; the regrets of age and the passions of youth-these are the timeless themes Alan Drew weaves into a brilliant fiction debut.
1100395501
In a small town outside Istanbul, Sinan Basioglu, a devout Muslim, and his wife, Nilüfer, are preparing for their nine-year-old son's coming-of-age ceremony. Their headstrong fifteen-year-old daughter, ¿rem, resents the attention her brother, Ismail, receives from their parents. For her, there was no such festive observance-only the wrapping of her head in a dark scarf and strict rules that keep her hidden away from boys and her friends. But even before the night of the celebration, ¿rem has started to change, to the dismay of her Kurdish father. What Sinan doesn't know is that much of her transformation is due to her secret relationship with their neighbor, Dylan, the seventeen-year-old American son of expatriate teachers.
¿rem sees Dylan as the gateway to a new life, one that will free her from the confines of conservative Islam. Yet the young man's presence and Sinan's growing awareness of their relationship affirms Sinan's wish to move his family to the safety of his old village, a place where his children would be sheltered from the cosmopolitan temptations of Istanbul, and where, as the civil war in the south wanes, he hopes to raise his children in the Kurdish tradition.
But when a massive earthquake hits in the middle of the night, the Basioglu family is faced with greater challenges. Losing everything, they are forced to forage for themselves, living as refugees in their own country. And their survival becomes dependent on their American neighbors, to whom they are unnervingly indebted. As love develops between ¿rem and Dylan, Sinan makes a series of increasingly dangerous decisions that push him toward a betrayal that will change everyone's lives forever.
The deep bonds among father, son, and daughter; the tension between honoring tradition and embracing personal freedom; the conflict between cultures and faiths; the regrets of age and the passions of youth-these are the timeless themes Alan Drew weaves into a brilliant fiction debut.
Gardens of Water: A Novel
Powerful, emotional, and beautifully written, Alan Drew's stunning first novel brings to life two unforgettable families-one Kurdish, one American-and the sacrifice and love that bind them together.
In a small town outside Istanbul, Sinan Basioglu, a devout Muslim, and his wife, Nilüfer, are preparing for their nine-year-old son's coming-of-age ceremony. Their headstrong fifteen-year-old daughter, ¿rem, resents the attention her brother, Ismail, receives from their parents. For her, there was no such festive observance-only the wrapping of her head in a dark scarf and strict rules that keep her hidden away from boys and her friends. But even before the night of the celebration, ¿rem has started to change, to the dismay of her Kurdish father. What Sinan doesn't know is that much of her transformation is due to her secret relationship with their neighbor, Dylan, the seventeen-year-old American son of expatriate teachers.
¿rem sees Dylan as the gateway to a new life, one that will free her from the confines of conservative Islam. Yet the young man's presence and Sinan's growing awareness of their relationship affirms Sinan's wish to move his family to the safety of his old village, a place where his children would be sheltered from the cosmopolitan temptations of Istanbul, and where, as the civil war in the south wanes, he hopes to raise his children in the Kurdish tradition.
But when a massive earthquake hits in the middle of the night, the Basioglu family is faced with greater challenges. Losing everything, they are forced to forage for themselves, living as refugees in their own country. And their survival becomes dependent on their American neighbors, to whom they are unnervingly indebted. As love develops between ¿rem and Dylan, Sinan makes a series of increasingly dangerous decisions that push him toward a betrayal that will change everyone's lives forever.
The deep bonds among father, son, and daughter; the tension between honoring tradition and embracing personal freedom; the conflict between cultures and faiths; the regrets of age and the passions of youth-these are the timeless themes Alan Drew weaves into a brilliant fiction debut.
In a small town outside Istanbul, Sinan Basioglu, a devout Muslim, and his wife, Nilüfer, are preparing for their nine-year-old son's coming-of-age ceremony. Their headstrong fifteen-year-old daughter, ¿rem, resents the attention her brother, Ismail, receives from their parents. For her, there was no such festive observance-only the wrapping of her head in a dark scarf and strict rules that keep her hidden away from boys and her friends. But even before the night of the celebration, ¿rem has started to change, to the dismay of her Kurdish father. What Sinan doesn't know is that much of her transformation is due to her secret relationship with their neighbor, Dylan, the seventeen-year-old American son of expatriate teachers.
¿rem sees Dylan as the gateway to a new life, one that will free her from the confines of conservative Islam. Yet the young man's presence and Sinan's growing awareness of their relationship affirms Sinan's wish to move his family to the safety of his old village, a place where his children would be sheltered from the cosmopolitan temptations of Istanbul, and where, as the civil war in the south wanes, he hopes to raise his children in the Kurdish tradition.
But when a massive earthquake hits in the middle of the night, the Basioglu family is faced with greater challenges. Losing everything, they are forced to forage for themselves, living as refugees in their own country. And their survival becomes dependent on their American neighbors, to whom they are unnervingly indebted. As love develops between ¿rem and Dylan, Sinan makes a series of increasingly dangerous decisions that push him toward a betrayal that will change everyone's lives forever.
The deep bonds among father, son, and daughter; the tension between honoring tradition and embracing personal freedom; the conflict between cultures and faiths; the regrets of age and the passions of youth-these are the timeless themes Alan Drew weaves into a brilliant fiction debut.
20.0
In Stock
5
1
20.0
In Stock
Editorial Reviews
Product Details
BN ID: | 2940169120691 |
---|---|
Publisher: | Penguin Random House |
Publication date: | 02/12/2008 |
Edition description: | Unabridged |
Videos
From the B&N Reads Blog