Nihat Ziyalan, winner of the 2009 Çukurova Award, tells a story that extends from Istanbul to Sydney. In this novel that bears traces from the author’s own life, he tells about his first love in Istanbul, his family relations and his fears about the future. At the same time, he witnesses the immigrants that are trapped between two cultures in Sydney, the values that they take shelter in and their feelings as foreigners. The novel shaped by Ziyalan’s poetic language reflects the feelings, anxieties and dilemmas of today’s youth.

Overview

Altan, a handsome boy of nineteen, the son of a restaurant owner in Asmalımescit, Beyoğlu, and Yasemin, the beautiful daughter of the baker across the street, have been  in love with each other since childhood. Altan who cannot make the score he wanted to at the university entrance exams makes an unexpected decision; he leaves his “dimpled” love  and his family behind and travels to a foreign country 20 hours away by plane. In Sydney, Australia, he has to learn the language and earn a living. He feels lonely and suffers the difficulties of being a foreigner, then he meets Elif…