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Bliss
Bliss
Author: O. Z. Livaneli
Meryem, a fifteen-year-old girl, lives in a rural village on the shores of Lake Van in Eastern Turkey. Her simple life changes dramatically after her uncle, a sheikh in a dervish order, rapes her. She is considered an outcast for shaming her family. When she is locked in a shed and left alone for days, she comes to the painful realization that h...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9780312360542
ISBN-10: 0312360541
Publication Date: 9/4/2007
Pages: 288
Rating:
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 19

3.6 stars, based on 19 ratings
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover, Audio CD
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

Lazeeladee avatar reviewed Bliss on + 87 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 6
Adult/High SchoolLeft in the barn to hang herself as a consequence of her uncle raping her, 15-year-old Meryem defies local tradition and refuses to do it. Her cousin Cemal, recently a soldier in the army, who grew up with her in a tiny village in eastern Turkey, is sent to take her to Istanbul and is told to kill her on the way. On the train, Meryem's eyes are opened to city women who wear modern-day dress and speak and eat in front of men. Cemal cannot kill her, and after a short stay with his brother in Istanbul, he goes to a war buddy who gives them a place of temporary refuge, a fish farm on a cove in western Turkey. Here they meet a professor who has run away from his privileged life in Istanbul and is living on a large sailboat. He invites the two cousins to join him as his crew and companions. The dynamics created by this union give these three characters a new direction in which to take their lives. Teens will be drawn to the plight of a girl who has been raped and is then treated as the perpetrator of the crime. Livaneli shows village life and modern city life as two separate realities that coexist in Turkey today. Students interested in human rights and global studies will also appreciate this novel.Ellen Bell, Amador Valley High School, Pleasanton, CA
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reviewed Bliss on
Helpful Score: 1
This was a great book about the struggle of the life of female Turkish woman and the bonds of family. Beautifully written.
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reviewed Bliss on + 8 more book reviews
This book is up there with the Kite Runner. A beautiful book about an Islamic girl. I don't want to say too much about the plot because the story twists and turns. Very well-written and I thoroughly enjoyed it -- have a box of Kleenex with you. I cried like a baby in parts....
reviewed Bliss on + 11 more book reviews
I loved the message, and the plot. Great travelogue through Turkey. Interesting read that gives you perspective on a complicated country with multiple cultures and ethnicities living together for thousands of years. Ultimately the story is of violence, and individuals overcoming their own experiences in unique ways.


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