10 minutes and 38 seconds in this strange world by Elif Shafak

Genre: Psychological fiction

Number of Pages: 311

10 minutes and 38 seconds in this strange world was shortlisted for the Booker prize 2019. It's a story about a courageous woman "Tequila Leila" who was abused and brutally assaulted.

The premise of the book is unusual and different. The protagonist Leila was disposed into a dumpster outside Istanbul. Her body gave up but her brain stays active for 10 minutes and 38 seconds. Leila recalls everything right from her birth to her murder, all the memories of her childhood in a city of Van where she was brought up by his father's first wife but was a child of his second wife.

Shunned by her family, She departs to Instanbul, enters into the world of Prostitution. There were briefs about each of the Leila's five friends:- Sinan, Nalan, Jameelah, Zaynab and Humeyra. They also had their experiences but were living unapologetically.

"𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘵. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘖𝘯 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘶𝘱, 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘴."

They were always there for her whenever any client mistreated her. Some good moments of her love life flashed too. She found Ali to whom she got married but lost him due to his death in a protest march. In her final moments, she remembered the taste of single malt whiskey.

The complete story is a depiction of political corruption, sensitivity, solitude, strength, and individuality of a woman. I liked the writing, the descriptions about the place, characters, feelings, and the events that happened have been written so beautifully. I enjoy such writings. Read if you think that the above points roused any interest in this book.

Ratings: 4/5

Have a happy Sunday. Keep reading :)