The Bastard of Istanbul is the sixth novel and the second one written directly in English by Elif Shafak. She is loved as much as her co-national Orhan Pamuk, the famous Turkish writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. They have two more things in common: they have been accused of "insulting Turkishness" and both were pardoned with excuses from lack of incriminatory proof. The reason for her being prosecuted is this very book, The Bastard of Istanbul, published in 2006, the … [Read more...]