Istanbul, Turkey - 1980

The novel takes place in Istanbul, Turkey in 1980. It mostly focuses on the Nişantaşi neighborhood in the Şişli district, which is located on the European side of the city. The Bosphorus is the strait that separates the European and the Asian parts of Turkey, though Istanbul straddles both sides. The Golden Horn is the primary inlet of the Bosphorus which connects it to the Marmara Sea.

The late 1970s in Turkey was unstable politically, with significant political violence. The violence between the Turkish left and the extreme right was rooted in both religion and ethnicity. This was followed by an anti-fascist agenda that resulted in the September 1980 coup d'etat, which is detailed at the end of the novel.

Jelal's Attic Apartment

Jelal secretly bought the attic apartment in the Heart-of-the-City Apartments where he grew up years after the family moved out. After his...