Three Daughters of Eve (Shafak) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
There is a compelling confidence about the scope of Elif Shafak’s work. As a writer who stands between west and east, working in Turkish and English, living in Istanbul and London, she engages with some of the most pressing political and personal themes of our times. Her new novel is no exception.
Natasha Walter - Guardian (UK)


This is a truly modern novel—about the way we are shaped by politics, including freedom of expression and political repression, but also by our personal relationships (Best Books of 2017).
Sadiq Khan - Financial Times


[Shfak's] writing in English is a mixed bag, with passages of appealing sensuality and intelligence alternating with sections that are overwrought or clunky and in need of more rigorous editing. At times the women (and indeed the men) here can seem like mouthpieces for ideological arguments rather than real characters…. Despite all that, Three Daughters of Eve is a compelling read.
Cathy Dillon - Irish Times


Turkey's best-known female novelist, Elif Shafak, has been building a body of work that needles her country's historical amnesia.… The ways in which an unresolved past can fuel present-day tensions is the subject of Shafak's vivid and timely eighth novel.
Vogue


A beautifully rendered tale of homeland and faith.
Marie Claire


Shafak’s ambitious novel follows Peri Nalbantoglu, namely her memories of childhood and a scandal … at Oxford.… [R]readers interested in debates about the nature of God will find the book intriguing.
Publishers Weekly


Shafak uses rich, thought-provoking prose to illuminate women's struggles and fuse Islam with feminist theory.… [She] illustrates the ongoing fissure between Eastern and Western culture in Turkey.  —Sally Bissell, formerly with Lee Cty. Lib. Syst., Fort Myers, FL
Library Journal


Shafak is a brilliant chronicler of the ills that plague contemporary society and once again proves her mettle.
Booklist


Shafak's infectious, earnest exuberance is used here to better effect than it has been recently; her portrait of a woman in existential crisis feels universal, shining clarifying light on Islam … within the frame of today's world.
Kirkus Reviews