10 Minutes 38 Seconds In This Strange World

10 MINUTES 38 SECONDS IN THIS STRANGE WORLD

by Elif Shafak

 

Nominations: Booker Finalist 2019, BookTube Finalist 2020, Dayton Literary Peace Prize Finalist 2020, Dublin Longlist 2021

 

Date Read: December 18, 2020

 

Leila is dead. She was murdered and her corpse thrown into a dumpster, like human garbage. Her consciousness, however, is far from over, extending beyond the lack of a heartbeat for 10 Minutes 38 seconds as she relives the best and worst parts of her life. We experience what she thinks as well as what happens as a result of her death. It’s interesting to begin at the end and work your way backwards. As I got to know Leila, the loss of her became increasingly sad.

 

Leila lived on the margins of society, having been rejected by her family and sold to a brothel. The circumstances of her life are tragic – her own mother wasn’t allowed to raise her; she was raped by her Uncle; her family did not believe her when she finally told what was happening; her leaving was probably a relief to her family; she was betrayed by someone she had hoped was friend and sold to a brothel. As much as the deck was stacked against her, however, Leila is able to carve out beauty and purpose in her life, particularly as a result of her friends.

 

Leila’s five dear friends are the heart and soul of her life. All of them live somewhere on the margins but they are devoted to one another and are literally each other’s lifelines. Even after death. Because Leila was a prostitute and her family refused to claim her body, Leila is relegated to the Cemetery Of The Companionless. Her friends begged to claim her body and give her a proper burial but because they were not blood relations, they were refused. 

 

Banding together with Leila as their single focus, they are determined to steal her body and bury her with her predeceased husband, D’Ali. D’Ali was tragically killed by sniper fire during a protest, yet another highlight of Leila’s life – him pursuing her at the brothel and never holding her past against her. 

 

The night they enact their plan, however, everything goes wrong, not least the police are onto them. With the police in tow, they are unable to illegally enter the cemetery where D’Ali is buried, yet one of the friends remembers that Leila wanted to be buried in the water. They are able to grant her this final wish.

 

Inspired by Leila’s life, her legacy allows these misfits to pool their resources and live as roommates in the flat Leila left behind. Beyond her death, she breathed bravery into each of them, encouraging them to live their lives honestly and with love.

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