FINALISTA DEL PREMIO BOOKER
LA ESPERADA NUEVA NOVELA DE ELIF SHAFAK,
CON 300.000 LECTORES Y TRADUCIDA EN
CINCUENTA PAÍSES
«Elif Shafak puede ser despiadada, lírica, política, íntima. [...]
Dentro de esta novela conviven otras tantas, todas ellas conmovedoras,
espléndidas y escritas con elegancia.».-Juan Gabriel Vásquez
El cerebro permanece activo unos diez minutos después de que el corazón
deje de latir. Durante ese lapso, mientras el cuerpo de Leila yace en un
contenedor de basura a las afueras de Estambul, el tiempo fluye y,
minuto a minuto, le trae un nuevo recuerdo: la infancia con su padre y
sus dos madres en una casa grande y antigua de una apacible ciudad de
Turquía; los chismorreos de las mujeres cuando los hombres están en la
mezquita; la huida a Estambul para escapar de los abusos y las mentiras
familiares y de un matrimonio concertado; el amor hallado de manera
inesperada en el burdel de Mamá Amarga. y los cinco amigos que hace en
el camino su verdadera familia y que, mientras agoniza, tratan
desesperadamente de encontrarla.
ENGLISH DESCRIPTION
Shortlisted for the 2019 Booker Prize
Named a Best Book of the Year by Bookpage, NPR, Washington Post, and
The Economist
**A moving novel on the power of friendship in our darkest times, from
internationally renowned writer and speaker Elif Shafak.
**
In the pulsating moments after she has been murdered and left in a
dumpster outside Istanbul, Tequila Leila enters a state of heightened
awareness. Her heart has stopped beating but her brain is still
active―for 10 minutes 38 seconds. While the Turkish sun rises and her
friends sleep soundly nearby, she remembers her life―and the lives of
others, outcasts like her.
Tequila Leila's memories bring us back to her childhood in the
provinces, a highly oppressive milieu with religion and traditions,
shaped by a polygamous family with two mothers and an increasingly
authoritarian father. Escaping to Istanbul, Leila makes her way into the
sordid industry of sex trafficking, finding a home in the city's
historic Street of Brothels. This is a dark, violent world, but Leila is
tough and open to beauty, light, and the essential bonds of friendship.
In Tequila Leila's death, the secrets and wonders of modern Istanbul
come to life, painted vividly by the captivating tales of how Leila came
to know and be loved by her friends. As her epic journey to the
afterlife comes to an end, it is her chosen family who brings her story
to a buoyant and breathtaking conclusion.
