Elif Afak

Elif Shafak (Turkish: Elif Şafak [eˈlif ʃaˈfak]; née Bilgin; born 25 October 1971) is a Turkish-British novelist, essayist, public speaker, political scientist, and activist. Shafak writes in Turkish and English, and has published 21 books. She is best known for her novels, which include The Bastard of Istanbul, The Forty Rules of Love, Three Daughters of Eve, 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World, and The Island of Missing Trees. As of 2025, her work had been translated into almost sixty …