Writing
fromThe Nation
6 days agoThe Enigma of Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein's complex writing style and innovative use of language significantly influenced 20th-century literature, despite ongoing ambivalence from readers.
The creative output of that tribe was so immense, and their bohemian adventures so inspiring, that I wrote and published a historical novel, The Ashtrays Are Full and the Glasses Are Empty featuring many figures from the Lost Generation.
Dilara, the protagonist of this début novel, is consumed by the absence of a stable home in her life. She and her family flee Turkey, where she is from, after a failed coup in 2016. When they end up in Italy, something inexplicable happens: Dilara's bathroom transforms into a cell in an infamous prison on the outskirts of Istanbul.