The Fisherman And His Son: A Novel

(Paperback)

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In this humane, affecting tale of a Turkish couple who lose their child and find another, the internationally bestselling author of Disquiet explores the ethical questions surrounding immigration. Fisherman Mustafa and his wife, Mesude, are devastated with grief for their son Deniz, who was lost at sea at seven years old. One day, Mustafa discovers the bodies of a woman and man in the water, likely refugees from Syria, Pakistan, or Afghanistan drowned as they attempted to reach Greece. Nearby, he also finds a baby boy, tied to a small inflatable boat and miraculously alive. Mustafa and Mesude at first welcome the child as a precious gift, a second Deniz, but when a woman appears, claiming to be his mother, they must make a painful decision. Through their heart-wrenching story, Z lf Livaneli sensitively evokes the struggles of migrants seeking a safer life in unknown, often hostile lands. In the process, he elucidates the history and culture of the Aegean, and the ecological destruction wreaked by corporations in the region.

Reviews

At the center of this novel stands unfathomable tragedy. Gracefully, masterfully, Zlf Livaneli does not force the reader into tryingand failingto fathom the unfathomable. Instead, this novel, which is thrumming with Keatsian negative capability, intertwines human misery and nonhuman mysterythe contemporary refugee crisis; a small island crawling with snakes; invasive, poisonous puffer fish and encircling, crafty cats; national histories of population transfers and personal histories of rotten marriages and youthful romances; dreams of a shark-headed man; a baby delivered from the depths by a father dolphin; corporate rapaciousness and environmental degradation; jasmine flowers in evening bloomand in so doing, creates a loose and intricate tapestry of sorrow and solace, one that invites the attentive reader to glimpse, if even for a moment, the size of the cloth, as the poet Naomi Shihab Nye put it. Brendan Freelys translation is stark, elegant, and fluid; the story that unfolds is propulsive and dramatic, harrowing and multilayered. This is a wonderful book. Moriel Rothman-Zecher, author of Before All the World and Sadness Is a White Bird

In this tightly woven novel of the sea, Zlf Livaneli writes of a deep sense of longing at the intersection of loss, environmental catastrophe, and the continuing tragedy of the Mediterranean refugee crisis. The Fisherman and His Son is a moving story that explores the ways in which everyday people navigate their lives in the shambles of the modern nation. Nishant Batsha, author of Mother Ocean Father Nation

The Fisherman and His Son homes in on the measured devastations and triumphs that come with sea life on the Aegean, bringing to earth the romanticism of Western writers who tend to forget that the sea, while a stunning component of natural aestheticism, is also a bordera border with all the complications of contemporary sociopolitical tensionsThis is a novel in line with the sort of compassionate revolution that Livaneli himself espouses: one in which love and solidarity lays the groundwork for survival in the tumult of modern life. The Rumpus

Praise for Disquiet:

Entirely captivating.New York Times Book Review

[An] arresting novel.The New Yorker

A tale of identities colliding from a writer whos held five passports[Disquiet] unfolds in a border town caught between its ancient past and tumultuous present.NPR, All Things Considered

Author Bio

Z lf Livaneli is Turkey's best-selling author and a political activist. Widely considered one of the most important Turkish cultural figures of our time, he is known for his novels that interweave diverse social and historical backgrounds, figures, and incidents, including the critically acclaimed Bliss (winner of the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award), Serenade for Nadia (Other Press, 2020), Disquiet (Other Press, 2021), The Last Island (Other Press, 2022), Leyla's House, and My Brother's Story, which have been translated into thirty-seven languages, won numerous international literary prizes, and been turned into movies, stage plays, and operas. Brendan Freely was born in Princeton in 1959 and studied psychology at Yale University. His translations include Two Girls by Perihan Ma_x011F_den, The Gaze by Elif _x015E_afak, and Like a Sword Wound by Ahmet Altan.