The Museum of Innocence by Orham Pamuk

This was a difficult and very long book to read but it is a book that I’ll come back to in my mind for a long time to come. It’s the story of Kemal, a Turkish playboy who becomes engaged to a suitable girl but is also having an affair with his distant cousin Fusun. He becomes obsessed with Fusun, and this obsession allows his character to develop and sadden over years and years. Of course you realize very quickly that something tragic happens because he is narrating the story in the past and has spent his life creating a museum to honour the life of the girl. It’s an interesting book because the question of virginity and its importance, then and now, in Turkey is central to the novel. I felt I got some real insight into the attitudes and values of modern day Turks. Worth the effort. 3 ½ stars.