‘Not only an engrossing feat of tale-spinning, but essential reading for our times.’ Margaret Atwood, The New York Times ‘A major work. . . with suspense at every dimpled vortex’ John Updike, The New Yorker ‘Powerful. . . astonishingly timely’ Vogue ‘Orhan Pamuk is the sort of writer for whom the Nobel Prize was invented.’ Daily Telegraph
An exiled poet returns to the remote city of Kars on the Turkish border to investigate troubling reports of a suicide epidemic among its young women. While there, he reconnects with the beautiful Ipek, and finds himself drawn irresistibly back into their love story.
But Kars has become a touchpoint for religious and political violence and religious extremists are poised to win the local elections. As the snow falls and suspicion mounts, the stage is set for a terrible and desperate act . . .