Defne Suman Books

Told from four different perspectives, At the Breakfast Table is a story of hidden histories and family secrets, from the author of The Silence of Scheherazade. Prinkipo Island, Turkey, 2017. In the glow of a late summer morning, family gather for the 100th birthday of the famous artist Sirin Saka. It ought to be a time of fond reminiscence, looking back on a long and fruitful artistic career, on memories spanning almost a century, but also of an era when imperial forces fought over her homeland. But the deep past is something Sirin has spent a lifetime trying to conceal. Her grandchildren, Nur and Fikret, and great grandchild, Selin, do not know what Sirin is hiding, though they are intimately aware of the secret's psychological consequences. The siblings invite family friend and investigative journalist Burak along to interview Sirin for his weekly column in celebration of her 100th year. They hope he will help unravel the family secrets and persuade her to talk. Sirin's life-long servant, Sadik, is determined to do all he can to protect the artist. Eventually Sirin begins to express her pain the only way she knows how. She paints the story onto her dining room wall, revealing a history wiped from public consciousness and the cause of her family's anguish that has sat, ruinous, in their subconscious for generations.

The third novel-in-translation from Turkish author Defne Suman, Summer Heat sees a mysterious meeting between which threatens to unravel generations-long secrets.

September 1905. At the heart of the Ottoman Empire, in the ancient city of Smyrna, Scheherazade is born to an opium-dazed mother. At the very same moment, an Indian spy sails into the golden-hued, sycamore-scented city with a secret mission from the British Empire. When he leaves, 17 years later, it will be to the smell of kerosene and smoke as the city, and its people, are engulfed in flames. Told through the intertwining fates of a Levantine, a Greek, a Turkish and an Armenian family, this unforgettable novel reveals a city, and a culture, now lost to time.

»Klug beobachtet, feinsinnig erzählt und schmerzlich schön.« Elif Shafak An einem orangegetünchten Abend kommt im September 1905 in der Hafenstadt Smyrna ein kleines Mädchen zur Welt. Sie wächst behütet auf bei ihrer griechischen Familie, umgeben von goldfarbenen Minaretten, dem süßen Duft von Feigen und dem Klang einer Mandoline, die ein verliebter Junge unter ihrem Fenster spielt. Doch die Idylle zerbricht jäh, als nach dem Zerfall des Osmanischen Reichs aus Nachbarn plötzlich Feinde werden. Während die Stadt von einem verheerenden Feuer heimgesucht wird, retten drei Familien, eine griechische, eine türkische und eine levantinische, was ihnen am meisten am Herzen liegt: ein Mädchen, das einst an einem orangegetünchten Abend zur Welt kam. Die unvergessliche Geschichte einer mutigen Frau, deren pralles Leben geprägt ist von ihrer Liebe zur Heimat. Einer Frau, die die einmalige Schönheit und den tragischen Untergang ihrer Stadt am eigenen Leib erfährt und ihr leidenschaftliches Vermächtnis mit uns teilt.

Joan Baez, i-pod, Mevlana, hesapsız kitapsız yolculuklar, Johnny Walker reklamları, Burger King, kahve falı, pop şarkıları, Tom Robbins, sevgililer, aldatma, ölüm, Orhan Pamuk ve Daihatsu otomobillerle ahenk içinde, birbirine harman yoga asanaları... Bu kitabı çok seveceksiniz. Yazar da çok yakın arkadaşınız olacak. Teoman, Sanatçı Derin derin soluk alıp veren, göğüs kafesini genişleten bir anlatım. Bir iksir içiriyor sana ve yaşamak, sahiden yaşamak nedir, onu hissettiriyor. Özcan Yüksek, Atlas Yayın Yönetmeni Birazdan çok iyi bir yazarla tanışacak, güzel bir kitap okuyacaksınız. Ne mutlu size… Şebnem İşigüzel, Yazar “İnsan hayatının milatları var. Sonrası bir daha öncesi gibi olmaz” diyor Defne Suman. Bu kitap kendinle tanışmanın, uzlaşmanın, aradığı uyumu kendinde bulmaya başlamanın miladı. Olaylar, mekânlar, kişiler ve zaman fırça darbeleriyle çizilirken, ruhun derinlikleri öne çıkıyor. İnsan olmanın güzel huzursuzluğunu içinde duyanların tümüne yazılmış uzun, içten bir mektup. Oya Baydar, Yazar