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The Gaze

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The Gaze

By: Elif Shafak, Brendan Freely - translation
Narrated by: Alix Dunmore
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An obese woman and her lover, a dwarf, are sick of being stared at wherever they go, and so decide to reverse roles. The man goes out wearing make-up and the woman draws a moustache on her face. But while the woman wants to hide away from the world, the man meets the stares from passers-by head on, compiling his 'Dictionary of Gazes' to explore the boundaries between appearance and reality.

Intertwined with the story of a bizarre freak-show organised in Istanbul in the 1880s, The Gaze is a humorous and carnivalesque exploration of what it means to look and be looked at...

©1999, 2006 Elif Shafak (P)2026 Bolinda Publishing
Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Witty
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Critic reviews

'Entertaining and affecting.' (Publishers Weekly)
'Beautifully evoked.' (The Times)
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I absolutely love Elif’s writing style. This book was fantastically odd. The narrator was incredible. It seems like a whimsical story but there is so much truth and meaning woven through the chapters.

Brilliant!

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