The Turk and My Mother — Mary Helen Stefaniak

Winner of the John Gardner Fiction Book Award


"Fans of Amy Tan and Carol Shields will revel in the themes of remembrance, forgiveness, family devotion, and forbidden love." -- Booklist

Every family has its secrets. But toward the end of his life, George decides to tell his daughter the story of his mother and the Turk. This initial revelation leads to a narrative tour de force that follows a family through four generations and around the world -- through love, marriage, and betrayal, through illness, death, and war. Mary Helen Stefaniak's charming and flawed characters and the warmth of her prose will stay with readers long after they close the book.

Reading group guide included.