Channel Crossing/Roundabout/The Meeting (Storycuts)

Oct 12, 2024 12:22 AM

Author:Elvi Rhodes

In 'Channel Crossing', holidays can provide a huge relief from the daily grind...a fresh experience, new surroundings. Such a relief, in fact, that for many people it can signal the start of a new life, in a foreign country. But is the grass always greener on the other side?

In 'Roundabout', it is Miriam's wedding day, which she thought would be a no-fuss affair. But she has her chief and only bridesmaid, Joan, bustling around, insisting she have flowers, and fussing about the arrangements for the day. However, it is also Joan who is there to reassure Miriam when she has her last-minute doubts - because the bond between these two women runs far deeper than that of bride and bridesmaid.

In 'The Meeting', Meg moved around a lot during her childhood, so meeting up with the rest of her family has always been a big event. But with a ten-year gap between meetings, the numbers dwindle, and the family are faced with the difficult decision of whether they should meet again.

Part of the Storycuts series, these three short stories were previously published in the collection Summer Promise and Other Stories.

Reviews

Watch out Catherine Cookson

—— Northern Echo

A mesmerising patchwork of horror, humour and humanity

—— Independent

A magnificent, poetic, colossal novel... Superbly written... It is, in every sense, a sublime book

—— Irish Times

His most serious and ambitious achievement to date

—— Times Literary Supplement

Pleasurable... Like Steinbeck, de Bernières deserves praise for his imaginative sympathy

—— Independent on Sunday

Shafak will challenge Paulo Coelho's dominance

—— The Independent

An honour killing is at the centre of this stunning novel... Exotic, evocative and utterly gripping

—— The Times

Lushly and memorably magic-realist... This is an extraordinarily skilfully crafted and ambitious narrative

—— The Independent

The book calls to mind The Color Purple in the fierceness of its engagement with male violence and its determination to see its characters to a better place. But Shafak is closer to Isabel Allende in spirit, confidence and charm. Her portrayal of Muslim cultures, both traditional and globalising, is as hopeful as it is politically sophisticated. This alone should gain her the world audience she has long deserved

—— The Guardian

In Honour, Shafak treats an important, absorbing subject in a fast-paced, internationally familiar style that will make it accessible to a wide readership

—— Sunday Times

Fascinating and gripping - a wonderful novel

—— Rosamund Lupton, author of Sister

Vivid storytelling... that explores the darkest aspects of faith and love

—— Sunday Telegraph

Moving, subtle and ultimately hopeful, Honour is further proof that Shafak is the most exciting Turkish novelist to reach western readers in years

—— Irish Times

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