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Content snapshot
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Violence
A lot
War violence and atrocity including the Armenian genocide; depicted with historical honesty
Language
Some
Adult language in de Bernières's literary register
Sexual Content
Some
Adult content across many storylines spanning decades
Substance Use
Barely any
Some period-appropriate drinking
Emotional Intensity
A lot
The psychological weight of watching a community's centuries-old coexistence destroyed — and the individual and collective grief that follows — makes this one of the most emotionally demanding historical novels of the 21st century
What this book is about
Louis de Bernières's ambitious historical novel follows the community of Eskibahçe, a village in southwestern Turkey where Christians and Muslims have coexisted for generations, through the catastrophic period of WWI, the fall of the Ottoman Empire, and the population exchanges that destroyed that coexistence. The violence of the period — including the Armenian genocide — is depicted with historical honesty. A magnificent and devastating novel for adult readers.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Historical genocide depicted honestly
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