The Silence of Scheherazade

Before present-day Izmir came to be, it was the Greek city of Smyrna, a prosperous metropolitan city in which many cultures lived and integrated peacefully. However, during the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire at the end of WWI, the city was engulfed in flames and thousands upon thousands of residents were killed. The Silence of Scheherazade by Defne Suman follows the events told through the eyes of four families – Levantine French, Turkish, Greek, and Armenian – that detail the unique experiences of the city’s inhabitants in the years leading up to the turmoil.

Read my entire review on The Nerd Cantina website.