Two Girls – It took me almost a year to get hold of this book. None of the libraries, even here in Queen’s land had the book but I eventually found it on Amazon and ordered it for less than three quid!
Moving on. Behiye, is a frustrated teen in Istanbul and if I were to generalize I would term her an ‘emo kid’. Seemingly intellectual, she is not the least fond of her family and is depressed about her weight and life in general feeling trapped in a world of ‘money and penises’. Until Handan, a striking and gentle girl enters her life and their lives change forever. Behiye moves in with Handan and her mother, the temperamental Leman. Things seem to go to plan at first even as the girls are planning to flee to Australia in pursuit of Handan’s father. However, Behiye’s obsessive ways cause problems when Handan discovers the joys of fast cars and rich boys and begins to ignore Behiye. The unearthing of murdered young men intermingle with the story at various points but it is up to the readers to decide if the characters have anything to do with these murders at all.
A relatively compact paperback, which took me less than four days to read, Perihan Magden’s writing left me with mixed emotions. The language is fresh and unconventional; abound with broken sentences and at times random punctuations. The story itself seems a little tardy and at times keeps you from taking the characters too seriously, which also leaves you wondering if the essence of the book was lost in the translation process. Nonetheless, this rather controversial novel (apparently just writing a lesbian themed novel which doesn’t actually even feature a lesbian kiss is enough to kick up a controversy in the Middle East) is a one-time read. If you are looking for a gritty, powerful drama, this book might well be worth a read.
