Currently three books in our read aloud shelf. The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Israeli historian Ilan Pappe. Extremely well documented, with origins going back to the beginning of the state, including minutes from meetings with Ben Gurion. Very good background but heavy reading in more than one way. We’ll finish, but slowly. Digital, so it comes with us.
Still in non-fiction, but a “real” book, is Aprons and Silver Spoons by Mollie Moran. It’s the fascinating reminiscences of a woman who was born in 1916 and at fourteen became an understairs kitchen maid at a grand house in London. She lived to be 96 and the memoir follows her life through to after the end of the war.
And book number three is fiction - The Bastard of Istanbul, written in English by Turkish British novelist Elif Shafak and translated into Turkish and a number of other languages. Uneven, but the best bits are very good. And of political interest as well. The family history of the main characters deals with the Turkish massacre of Armenians in 1915. A touchy subject at best in Türkiye and one that led to Shafak being charged with “insulting Turkishness”. The charge was dismissed due to “lack of insult” but conviction could have meant a three year prison sentence.
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