Really enjoyed the characters and switching between past and present. Enjoyable story just a bit...long.

3.5*

Thanks to NG for the eArc.

Breathing life back into the fallen city of Smyrna, The Silence of Schenerazade is a tale of love, loss, and family secrets. Beautifully written as a romantic interwoven tale of lives overlapping amidst a tragic historical moment.

My favourite kind of historical novel. The characters were incredibly written and the prose was mesmerising. If you liked The Eighth Life you’ll love this. I had been searching for another historical family saga since I read that one and finally, I have found one just as good

Sorry for my late review. This is a new Author to me and I enjoyed their writing style, there is a depth to the characters, it's a good book.

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I really enjoyed this one the plot kept me interested until the end which is not easy, and the characters were engaging and believable. I highly recommend this book.

This was a book that I had to DNF after reading a third of it. While the summary intrigued me as I have a great interest in Turkish Greek history and relations, I felt that the story got bogged down by two many separate plots. It was difficult to understand what was happening in the past versus what was happening in the present and overall I found myself loosing the thread of the story more than once.

This was a beautiful tale spun during a period and area of great turmoil, pain and hardship- admittedly not one I knew a lot about before reading this book. The writing was evocative and I was very happy to have received this as an arc. This will stay with me for a long time.

What’s it about:
We follow four families as their lives are changed forever when the Ottoman Empire is torn apart, and the city of Smyrna is at the front and centre of the trouble and violence.
This novel covers about 17 years from 1905, and follows four families from very different backgrounds: Levantine, Greek, Turkish and Armenian.

Scheherazade is born in September 1905, and never knows her mother as she is abandoned. An Indian spy (sent from the British) is who will tie them all together.

My thoughts:
I love an epic, sprawling story, and following the lives of four families certainly gives a lot of scope for that.

It was fascinating to learn about the different cultures of the four families, and of course Smyrna was a main character in itself.

It’s a book to be immersed in, with the sights and smells beautifully described.

Just my kind of book!

This was an interesting, well written narrative about the Ottoman Empire. The story was engaging and the culture, surroundings and atmosphere were vividly described, which allowed me to become immersed in the setting. Beautiful.

A beautifully diverse story, covering an interesting part of history. The sense of the place and storytelling is superb.

It is a stunning story and very moving.

This story was a little too much for me. I know the historical, political and cultural background to this is incredibly complex but I think the overload of names, facts and places, intertwined with the non-linear narrative form make it just a little beyond my reach.

I will definitely return to it when I have my summer holidays and plenty of space to try and process.

First of all, thankyou Net Galley and Head of Zeus for this ARC.
Unfortunately, after much deliberation, I decided to DNF this book at 66%. I do not blame the book for this whatsoever, I do think that it was written extremely well and I really enjoyed my reading experience for the most part. However, there are some factors which led to my DNF.
1. I have really fell out of love with the historical fiction genre and when I requested this ARC I did not consider this.
2. I have been very busy recently and have had hardly any time to read and have only reached 66% in about 3 weeks of reading.
3. I just could not tell you what this book is about. I was waiting for the penny to drop from the time I started the book but it just never did and I still have no idea what I read.
Despite this, I did really enjoy Defne Suman’s beautiful writing and I would be completely open to trying another one of their books which is more my cup of tea.

🍃This is a story that has been translated from Turkish. As a fan of #womenintranslation, I had to pick this up!

🍃Set in the early 1900s in the ancient city of Smyrna, this follows the story of four families (a Levantine, a Greek, a Turkish and an Armenian family) through the perspective of the women.

🍃This is a historical fiction novel, but the research was so thorough and the writing was so immersive that it felt real. I felt like I was visiting this place and time that no longer exists.

🍃I got very emotional reading about such an important time in history that seems to be forgotten. It begins on the cusp of the world war and is very gruesome. We know the end before we begin, but the journey we witness is a powerful one.

🍃Betsy Göksel did an amazing job translating this story. The writing was poetic and the pacing was perfect. I hope to read more of her translations in the future. Hopefully more of Defne Suman!

🍃Thank you to Jade and @headofzeus for having me on their #TheSilenceOfScheherazade by @defnesuman #Scheherazade book tour!

This was such a moving book!! There was an incredible amount of world building and the emotional vulnerability of the characters are great!!

This was a really solid story about loss, war, grief and love that really tugged on my heart strings. I really enjoyed reading from the multiple points of view of our characters that provided us with a more well rounded view of the story. I think every book needs multiple points of view, it elevated the story telling aspect.

I enjoyed learning more about the Turkish culture in this book, especially coming from someone who knows little to none about its history. The writing style was very atmospheric and made the reading experience very enjoyable.

The problems I had with this book is that I found the plot pretty confusing I never knew where in "time" I was reading and there was a lot of time jumping between chapters that made it difficult to keep up with the chronology. It was also a little too ambitious about expecting the reader to remember so many details to understand the larger plot.

Thank you Head of Zeus and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC (Advanced Reader's Copy) in exchange for an honest review.

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2022 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2022/01/readers-advisory-announce-2022-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

A short read that will have you appreciating the world of literature. A thrilling ride. I would recommend this to everyone.

The Silence of Scheherazade is perfect for fans of historical fiction. It follows the story of four families and their different cultures, which made them seem like real people. It is clear that the author put a lot of research into this book, which makes it even more enjoyable because it felt like I was learning a lot. The writing is beautiful, making it easy to follow and get immersed in. Thank you NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This ambitious book of historical fiction has a meta theme about importance of diversity that seems to me to drive all the strands of character, plotting and situation .. it therefore feels driven by other drives than plot and character motivation it seems to me, and may explain the slowness and density of the read .. it meant too I had to keep flipping back to remember where what I was reading was positioned .. however it's an entirely admirable achievement by a deft and imaginative writer and I recommend the book to readers on that ground alone .. I also learned a great deal about Smyrna and the historical period which has been invaluable as template exploring how people function in middle of power/war struggles. Very impressive wittering for sure.

I was eager to see a book revisit Smyrna after reading Middlesex decades ago. The intertwining history of Greeks and Turks and the conflict for power hints at the fates of the future. Then contrast of the innocence of peacetime ⁣⁣versus the imminent horror that awaits, created the tension to hold my attention. It made me consider how little control we wield over our own fates. With myriad points of views and timeline jumps I do admit to feeling lost in parts, which slowed my pacing. Powerful story of a little spoken time in history. Recommend for fans of historical fiction!