The Silence of Scheherazade
Türkiye

The Silence of Scheherazade

by Defne Suman

History Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Family Saga 2016

Summary

In September 1905, in the cosmopolitan Ottoman port city of Smyrna, a girl named Scheherazade is born as an Indian spy arrives with a secret mission for the British Empire. Their stories unfold alongside those of four families—a Levantine, a Greek, a Turkish, and an Armenian—whose lives are bound together by love, ambition, and the city’s extraordinary cultural diversity.

Over the following seventeen years, the families navigate political upheaval, shifting loyalties, forbidden relationships, and the growing tensions surrounding the decline of the Ottoman Empire. As war transforms the region, the world they know begins to crumble, culminating in the devastating fire that engulfs Smyrna in 1922.

Rich in historical detail and intimate human drama, The Silence of Scheherazade resurrects a lost multicultural world and gives voice to the people caught between competing nationalisms. It is a story of love, displacement, and the silences that history leaves behind.

Reviews

Login to leave a review.

No reviews yet. Be the first!

You might also like

Birds Without Wings
Birds Without Wings
Louis de Bernières
Without a Country
Without a Country
Ayşe Kulin
Love in Exile
Love in Exile
Ayşe Kulin
Last Train to Istanbul
Last Train to Istanbul
Ayşe Kulin
Country
Türkiye
Asia
About the author
Defne Suman
Defne Suman

Defne Suman is a Turkish novelist and essayist born in Istanbul and raised on Büyükada, an island near the city. She studied sociology at Boğaziçi University, earning both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree. After leaving academia, she travelled extensively, volunteered in Thailand and Laos, and studied yoga and Eastern philosophy before dedicating herself to writing. Suman’s fiction explores the hidden layers of Turkish and Ottoman history, focusing on family secrets, cultural identity, exile, and the experiences of marginalised communities. Her novels often examine how political upheaval shapes private lives and how memories are passed between generations. Her notable works include The Silence of Scheherazade, At the Breakfast Table, and The Last Apartment in Istanbul. Her books have been translated into more than 30 languages. She is currently based in Athens and maintains close ties to Istanbul.

View author page
Details
Published
2016
Author
Defne Suman