A review by serendipitysbooks
Three Daughters of Eve by Elif Shafak

emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 
Another gorgeously written novel from Elif Shafak’s backlist, albeit one that didn’t work as well for me as many of her others due to it’s subject matter. Perri is a young Turkish woman, raised by an non-believing father and a Muslim mother. She herself is fairly confused about her beliefs. She attends university at Oxford where she develops a friendship with two other Muslim woman - Mona who is devout and Shirin, who is very much not. At Oxford she takes a course on God, taught by an unconventional and supposedly charismatic teacher and develops something of an obsession with him. Lots of interesting inter-personal dynamics, commentary on the differences between East and West, as well as some important reminders for western readers about the diversity within the Muslim community and the dangers and limitations of assumptions and stereotyping. Overall there was too much discussion of God and spiritual beliefs for my personal taste. Had it not been Shafak I may have DNF’d but I really enjoy her way with words, the way she structures a story, and her storytelling abilities in general. This may not have been my favourite but it won’t put me off reading more from her backlist or any future releases. 
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