The Other Side of the Mountain by Erendiz Atasu

The Other Side of the Mountain

Erendiz Atasu

Although this is written in a loose, staccato way, with lots of short episodes moving back and forth in time (especially at the beginning), it is worth persevering, as it's a story of great human and historical interest. It follows 3 generations of a Turkish family across Turkey and England.

Extract
Once again Vicdan will put her hand on Nefise's feverish brow, her lips will brush Nefise's - ten years later. A grey day in November, 1942. The dark blue corridor of the Numune Hospital in Ankara leads Vicdan to an ending. She hates the month of November ever since Mustafa Kemal's death, and now she has to face another conclusion. She knows a part of her life is expiring with Nefise. Their friendship is ending at last. They have remained true to each other throughout the eight years since England, with the invincible loyalty of idealists. They, Nefise and Vicdan, children of a nation that had been executed and had risen from the dead, believe in the miraculous deeds of mankind.
Parallels
  • Birds of Passage by Robert Sole
  • Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
  • The Enigma of Arrival by V S Naipaul