I’m Inci Atrek, a Turkish-American writer currently living in Istanbul after several years bouncing around Europe and Southeast Asia. My debut novel Holiday Country, out January 9, is a coming-of-age story about a young woman caught between cultures. 19-year old Ada leaves California on an annual trip with her mother to spend the summer with her grandmother on Turkey’s Aegean coast. When a man from her mother’s past mysteriously shows up in their seaside town, Ada’s intensifying attraction compels her to pursue him at all costs. Set against the backdrop of an intergenerational love triangle by the sea, the novel explores themes of identity, language, inheritance of fate, and mother-daughter dynamics.
What Are You Reading?
The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty
Two books I recently finished and can’t stop thinking about are Tess Gunty’s The Rabbit Hutch and Mona Awad’s Bunny. And yes, loving one probably led me to reading the next, lured by the similar title! The Rabbit Hutch has one of the most shocking and satisfying endings I’ve read, with such a beautifully emotional build-up.
Bunny by Mona Awad
Bunny was an absolutely propulsive read with a mind-bending ending, and I’m dying to chat with other readers about it to compare notes.
Books That Shaped Me
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake was the first time I came across an American immigrant story that really resonated with me. Reading about the family dynamics and concerns of her characters prompted me to reflect differently on the questions in my own life and the stories I wanted to tell — perhaps they, too, were worthy of exploring in literature.
More Good Stuff
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