From one of Turkey's most acclaimed and outspoken writers comes a novel about the tangled histories of two families.In her second novel written in English, Elif Shafak confronts her country's violent past in a vivid and colorful tale set in both Turkey and the United States. At its center is the "bastard" of the title, Asya, a nineteen-year-old woman who loves Johnny Cash and the French Existentialists, and the four sisters of the Kazanci family who...

"When Orhan's brilliant and eccentric grandfather, who built a dynasty out of making kilim rugs, is found dead in a vat of dye, Orhan inherits the decades-old business. But his grandfather's will raises more questions than it answers. Kemal has left the family estate to a stranger thousands of miles away, an aging woman in a retirement home in Los Angeles. Her existence and secrecy about her past only deepen the mystery of why Orhan's grandfather...

Edward, a veteran filmmaker of Armenian descent, is in Toronto shooting a film about the Siege of Van, which led to the genocide of over a million Armenian people at the hands of Turkish troops. Raffi has been sent to Turkey to shoot background footage for the film. Raffi's mother Ani, an author and historian, is also involved in the project as a consultant. As Raffi attempts to re-enter Canada with cans of exposed film, he's detained by David, a...