Anguish….. in all its forms possible out in the open, hidden in plain sight, buried in daily mundane things, implied by peers or familial members or sitting at the bottom of one’s heart recoiling like poisonous serpent. This book is a journey through all of these forms of angst by delving deeper into inner circle of a family settled on the outskirts of Istanbul.

Like all his books, his beloved city peeps through the pages of this also. The matriarch and her husband are removed out of the city; almost shunned out of their once beloved city with their familiar people and surroundings. On their own, they land in a small hamlet near the sea; quite near to their hometown in physical terms but very afar on psychological level. May be that’s what drives that good doctor, an insightful student to the brink. Or does he cross that unmarked brink? How much of his later behaviour is attributed to psychological breakdown or it’s just a farce played throughout his life to cover his failure towards his family, his nation and more importantly himself?

The novel plays hide and seek by going back and forth in time. After some chapters, all dots seem to connect and we realize the vivid tapestry woven by the master storyteller by entwining open knots of past and present. There is blood, wine, money and guilt free flowing in this mix; giving it a distinct shade darker.

There is a definite streak of alcohol running through the family and of course, the all evident trait of abandoning your responsibilities. It ruins the family patriarch and survives for two more generations on either side of legitimate bloodline.

Without giving much of the story away, it can be said that what happens ultimately on that balmy summer morning has been in the build up for quite a long time. All the story played out and character building leads to the uncalled for brutality perpetuated by Hasan. It puts him on a self assured path of criminal ambitions and possibly to the point of no return.

What about love conquers everything notion? Is it defeated ultimately or it doesn’t survive much longer with Fatma’s family members? And that ever present shadow of death on her life, always around her on tiptoe like playing mischief and bringing heart searing grief.

Once you finally put down this book; these characters still stay with you and thus, emphasis the secret of popularity of this novel three decades on.