some turkish lit for a little change of pace.

In Honor by Elif Shafak, Esma a young Kurdish woman in London is trying to come to terms with the terrible murder her brother has committed. After she scoops him up from his 14-year prison sentence, she is ready for revenge, but first, she has a story to tell.

Through the pages, Esma reminisces about her family, stretching back three generations to her grandmother and the births of her mother and aunt in a village on the edge of Euphrates. These twin girls were born into the world as a great disappointment, which was common in their village. In alternating chapters, Esma tells of her mother, Pembe who married her father, Adem and eventually moved to London with their three children. While her aunt Jamila remained behind becoming a virgin midwife. Time passes and Jamila has a premonition that her sister is in danger, but before it can be stopped, tragedy strikes and Pembe is murdered.

Shafak has created a dark, but wonderfully gripping novel.