Set in a dreamy coastal city, Inci Atrek’s debut novel, Holiday Country, is about three generations of girls studying to make peace with the alternatives they’ve made. Narrated by the youngest of all of them, Ada, the story is as a lot a coming-of-age story as it’s about misplaced alternatives and the way far one could also be tempted to go to get better them.
Things are simply as you may think within the tiny seaside city of Ayvalik off the Aegean coast of Turkey—sleepy, quiet and slow-moving. Here, time is dictated not by the ticking of a clock however reasonably by the motion of the solar and tide. Oleander bushes line the pathways connecting the villas, the market and the 2 lone eating places (aptly named the Big Club and the Small Club), and gossiping is as essential a component of the lives of Ayvalik’s principally retired residents as swimming, consuming and sleeping.
19-year-old Ada has spent all her summer time holidays right here since she was 4. Ada and her mom Meltem’s annual pilgrimage to Ayvalik from San Francisco has been a constant however principally unsuccessful try to please Ada’s opinionated and controlling grandma, Mukadder, who by no means fairly forgave Meltem for marrying an American and shifting away.
This summer time, nonetheless, there may be uncertainty within the air for Ada, who has not solely found that her father has been dishonest on her mom, however can also be uncertain of how her impending grownup life will change her summer time getaways to Ayvalik and, by extension, her connection to her Turkish heritage and her sense of who she actually is. Amidst this angst, Ada meets a good-looking older man named Levent. Soon discovering he has a romantic previous together with her mom, she goes on a mission to get them again collectively once more, whereas unintentionally falling for him herself.
With a setting that comes by fantastically in Atrek’s writing, Holiday Country is tender, well-written and full of simply the correct amount of twists and turns.
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