10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World cover art

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2019

'In the first minute following her death, Tequila Leila's consciousness began to ebb, slowly and steadily, like a tide receding from the shore. Her brain cells, having run out of blood, were now completely deprived of oxygen. But they did not shut down. Not right away...'

For Leila, each minute after her death brings a sensuous memory: the taste of spiced goat stew, sacrificed by her father to celebrate the long-awaited birth of a son; the sight of bubbling vats of lemon and sugar which the women use to wax their legs while the men attend mosque; the scent of cardamom coffee that Leila shares with a handsome student in the brothel where she works. Each memory, too, recalls the friends she made at each key moment in her life - friends who are now desperately trying to find her. . .

'Expect vibrant, vivid and eye-opening descriptions of Middle Eastern life propelled by a tender storyline, all in Shafak's haunting, beautiful and considered prose' Vanity Fair

'Incredibly sensuous and poetic and evocative' Pandora Sykes

*Elif Shafak's latest novel The Island of Missing Trees is available now*

© Elif Shafak 2019 (P) Penguin Audio 2019

 Fiction Friendship Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Political Women's Fiction World Literature Heartfelt Marriage Inspiring Tear-jerking Human Brain
All stars
Most relevant
lovely tale of enduring friendship
really well narrated
couldn't wait for my bus journeys to listen

lovely tale - heartwarming and tragic i

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It’s a tale of human cruelty, the perverse nature of religion driven harm but most of all a story of friendship and kindness that can overcome. Loved every minute of it.

Tragic and heartwarming in equal measure

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There were so many strange things about this book it's hard to know where to start. But the strangest of all is the concept that the brain lives on when the body dies for up to 10 minutes 38 seconds. It's a unique perspective from which to tell a story. The story itself was dark and twisting with moments of joy.

Strange book

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this story is so good , I can't find the right words to describe how much I enjoyed it

Excellent in every way,

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A sad but beautiful story; written and read beautifully. I feel like this book is a piece of artwork itself.

A must listen!

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