Ten Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World is one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read. It’s one of the saddest, but one of the most uplifting, and certainly the most human. It’s also been shortlisted for the 2019 Booker Prize, if you needed any further indication you should definitely read this book.

As the sun rises in Istanbul, sex worker Leila (Tequila to her friends) lays dying in a dumpster. While her brain shuts down over the course of 10 minutes and 38 seconds, her life flashes before her eyes, replaying vivid memories from her childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Most importantly, she remembers the five best friends she made throughout her life; five friends who would do anything to save her.

It cannot be understated how brilliant Elif Shafak is at crafting characters.

Every character, no matter how minor, is written so uniquely and vividly, you can relate to them effortlessly. Leila herself is one of the most well-written protagonists I’ve encountered in fiction. Even as a white Australian man, I understood her feelings of alienation and displacement from her family and identity as a young girl growing up alongside an ever-changing Istanbul.

Shafak brilliantly weaves in Turkish and Muslim culture throughout the book in a way that is utterly fascinating. From rituals like dunking a newborn baby in a bowl of salt, to the clash of Istanbul’s more conservative population with the encroaching Western influence, there’s an immense sense of time and place that is intoxicating. It’s such a joy to read I was genuinely saddened when it ended, purely because I wouldn’t be able to read it anymore.

Tying it all together is writing that is simple yet evocative. It’s chock-full of gorgeous imagery that flows from page to page, never once losing focus. 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World is a book I’ll recommend to everyone until I die. It’s one of the few I’d describe as a ‘perfect’ book.

Reviewed by Max Lewis