“Coffee was like love, they said, the more patient you were with it, the better it would taste.”


Genre: Literary Fiction
Pages: 342
Published: February 1, 2011
Rate: 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads Synopsis
Pembe and Adem Toprak leave Turkey for London. There they make new lives for their family. Yet the traditions and beliefs of their home come with them – carried in the blood of their children, Iskender and Esma. Trapped by past mistakes, the Toprak children find their lives torn apart and transformed by a brutal and chilling crime.

Set in Turkey and London in the 1970s, Honour explores pain and loss, loyalty and betrayal, the clash of tradition and modernity, as well as the love and heartbreak that can tear any family apart.


My Take
Honour was my first book by Elif Shafak and I can tell you for sure it isn’t my last.

I loved this book so much. The writing is engaging and pulls you in, so much so I didn’t want to put the book down. Honour is such a page turner! Elif Shafak manages to introduce so many characters in the book without any confusion. I could tell who is who and what their story is without having to flip back the pages. This was a win for me.

“Jamila took heart in her belief that danger always came from where it was least expected.”

Elif Shafak explores cultural identity, more on the Turkish and Kurdish people while interviewing the time lines. Past and present. The Historical aspect of it was so intriguing and fascinating and you already now how much I love History in books. Also, how she talks about spirituality without making it preachy was amazing. I tend to avoid such subtexts but I was heavily invested in this one.

The story line is sad, and as we learn more about the traditions and beliefs of the characters, you get a feeling of how it will end. I was heartbroken by the last page.


A raw family account through love and loss that will grip you from the first page. I highly recommend.


Have you read Elif Shafak before? What do you think of her, and her books?