10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World - Elif Shafak

"Grief is a swallow... One day you wake up and you think it's gone, but it's only migrated to some other place, warming its feathers. Sooner or later, it will return and perch in your heart again."

With the world news being as it is of late, many of us, I'm sure, have found solace in our reading. It just so happens that this book discusses issues about women's choices over their own bodies - something that seems to permeate all discussion at the moment. Nonetheless, this is one of my favourite books of the year so far - in fact, I think this beautiful novel has found a place in my top ten of all time.

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World begins in the first few seconds following the death of Tequila Leila, whose decomposing body has been dumped by a yet unknown person in a metal rubbish bin. As her brain shuts down, Leila remembers significant moments throughout her bittersweet life - the smells, colours and people who have defined each memorable moment.

The first part of the novel is broken down into the ten minutes and thirty eight seconds it takes for Leila's brain to shut down. In this time she reminisces about her life growing up in a strict Muslim family in Van, Turkey, where she longs to break free from the restrictions of her traditional father and his old fashioned rules. In order to break free of her chains, Leila ran away to Istanbul where she fell upon hard times and began a new life as a prostitute.

Throughout her life, Leila made five significant friends - friends who are now looking for her. We learn the story of each of the five throughout Leila's recollections, and how they came to shape the person she was. Following the ten minutes and thirty eight seconds of Leila's memoirs, the novel documents the friends' strife to find Leila and give her the final resting place she deserves.

This novel broke my heart in half, and yet despite the harrowing subject matter, there were moments of immense beauty and hope. The evocative descriptions of rich cardamom coffee, women mixing lemon and sugar leg wax whilst the men pray, the peeling wallpaper of the brothel bedrooms, the halva made with love to honour the departed. I laughed, I cried (buckets!) and I couldn't stop thinking about it after I was done. I cannot recommend this beautiful book highly enough!