10 Minutes 38 Seconds In This Strange World

"In the first minute following her death, Tequila Leila's consciousness began to ebb, slowly and steadily, like a tide receding from the shore. Her brain cells, having run out of blood, were now completely deprived of oxygen. But they did not shut down. Not right away..."

Elif Shafak’s new novel, 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World, which has been short-listed for the 2019 Booker Prize, is an extraordinary novel, at times bleak and relentless in its portrayal of violence, heartbreak and grief, but ultimately life-affirming. For Leila, each minute after her death brings a sensuous memory: the taste of spiced goat stew, sacrificed by her father to celebrate the long-awaited birth of a son; the sight of bubbling vats of lemon and sugar which the women use to wax their legs while the men attend mosque; the scent of cardamom coffee that Leila shares with a handsome student in the brothel where she works. Each memory, too, recalls the friends she made at each key moment in her life- friends who are now desperately trying to find her.

Elif Shafak is an award-winning British-Turkish novelist and the most widely read female author in Turkey. She writes in both Turkish and English, and has published seventeen books, eleven of which are novels. Her work has been translated into fifty languages. An advocate for women's rights, LGBT rights and freedom of speech, Shafak is an inspiring public speaker and twice a TED global speaker, each time receiving a standing ovation. She has been awarded the title of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres and in 2017 she was chosen by Politico as one of the twelve people who would make the world better.

"One of the best writers in the world today." Hanif Kureishi

"Elif Shafak's extraordinary 10 Minutes, 38 Seconds in this Strange World is a work of brutal beauty and consummate tenderness." Simon Schama

Event chaired by Steven Gale.