The Fugitive of Gezi Park
Ada is haunted by her yearning for Istanbul and by the scars of a nightlong interrogation following her arrest at the Gezi Park protests. Now in London temping at an art fair, she meets Lucian, an eccentric, charming but burnt-out gallerist. Since his divorce, Lucian has been relying on drugs and alcohol to mend his broken heart. Ada, meanwhile, dreads the verdict of her forthcoming trial in Istanbul. Day-by-day, as their passion deepens, they reassess their past choices, and their futures rapidly take shape.
Sensual, perceptive and at times bitingly funny, The Fugitive of Gezi Park explores the nature of trauma and struggle, asking what it takes of us to start all over again.
In 2013, police brutality against a peaceful group protesting the destruction of Gezi Park – one of the few public green spaces in Istanbul – prompted an unprecedented wave of demonstrations which spread rapidly across Turkey, lasting several weeks. The Gezi Park Protests are a pivotal moment in the country’s volatile recent history, and continue to carry huge sentimental value for the dissidents of the ‘New Turkey.’
The book is published in the 10th anniversary year of the protests, and in the year of a pivotal election in Turkey.
Deniz Goran
Deniz Goran’s first novel The Turkish Diplomat’s Daughter became a bestseller when it was published in Turkey in 2007. The novel was also published in the UK, Italy, Germany, Greece and Taiwan. Deniz Goran is the pseudonym of Selin Tamtekin, a Turkish-British novelist and art writer based in London. The Fugitive of Gezi Park is her second novel.
Author portrait © Nilay Islek