Madonna in a Furcoat by Sabahattin Ali
What a beautifully written book. I spent an entire afternoon reading it even though it was only 176 pages because the words in between were so compelling that I often found myself lingering over them, reading the same lines again and again.
If I had to tell you what this book is about, I would say it is the exhilarating rush of falling in love, the highs and lows of being in love, the ache of unrequited love, the devastation of losing it, and the grief and anguish that haunts like a ghost in the aftermath.
Getting to know Raif and his story was truly a journey. His thoughts and feelings were so raw that I carried a constant ache in my chest, knowing how his detached and aloof personality came to be. His story is proof that pain changes us in ways we can’t imagine and sometimes, the only way to cope is to seal off our hearts and throw away the key, never to be opened again.
I cannot end this review without speaking of Maria Puder, our Madonna in a Fur Coat. She is a woman of strength and power, unwavering in her convictions and in the principles she lived by. She has left a mark on me as much as she did on Raif.
'The pain of losing something precious can be forgotten over time. But our missed opportunities never leave us, and every time they come back to haunt us, we ache.'
A shy young man leaves his home in rural Turkey to learn a trade and discover life in 1920s Berlin. There, amid the city's bustling streets, elegant museums, passionate politics and seedy cabarets, a chance meeting transforms his life forever. Caught between his desire for freedom and his yearning to belong, he struggles to hold on to the new life he has found.