Defne Suman

Summer Heat

Summer Heat is a complex, realistic, engaging, and occasionally heartbreaking narrative. It is a summery novel with a wonderful and bitter taste of Turkish and Greek culture and history. The author's storytelling glides through time with outstanding ability in conveying the characters' life stories and struggles. It's been a long time since a book I read captured my thoughts and won me over, like this one. The language was stunning, and it flowed seamlessly. While reading it, there were moments where I was so shocked by what I'd read that I wanted to take a break to process it all, but the story wouldn't let me go, so I kept reading and reading and getting engrossed. All the characters, from our main character, Melike, to Petro, Safinaz, Orhan, Gulbahar, and Eleni, are genuine, realistic, and loyal to the narrative. It was a valuable novel that, through family history, brought together many places, such as Turkey’s Istanbul, its Buyukada, Greece’s capital Athens, at a certain point even Germany, and eventually the island of Cyprus, weaving together entangled lives and family secrets, as well as the unique perspectives of each character and their place in the plot. The author described sorrow, grief, love, abandonment, and reunion wonderfully. Engaging, honest, and heartfelt; very emotional yet still realistic. The author treated this story meticulously, which is beautifully translated into the strong psychological component of the characters and the historically significant importance of the plot. It's a novel with good literary taste and a compelling tale. Once begun, it is impossible to put down! 

Thank you to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for providing me with an ARC of this beautiful translation!

Summer Heat

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