A review by sharkybookshelf
Djinns by Fatma Aydemir

4.0

After working himself to the bone in Germany for thirty years, Hüseyin has finally saved enough to buy a flat back in Istanbul to retire - on the cusp of his dream, his heart fails…

I enjoyed this portrait of a Turkish/Kurdish family in Germany. The story explores the weight of family secrets, complicated family dynamics, the suffocation of silence and multiple layers of identity - from the family’s life in Turkey through to navigating life in Germany as immigrants, and how different members of the family experienced the transition. I do wish there had been a bit more depth though - a few things were alluded to or vaguely mentioned and then never revisited.

It took the story a while to get off the ground but it came together into a bit of a rollercoaster (and not in a way I was expecting) - I liked the little tidbits of information sprinkled throughout that made sense at the end. Each section is told from the POV of a different member of the family, and I most enjoyed Peri’s part.

An engaging family story of secrets, the toll of silence, immigration and layers of identity.