TEHRAN – A Persian translation of the 2006 Turkish bestselling novel “Leyla’s House” has been published by Morvarid Publications in Tehran. 

Written by Zulfu Livaneli, the book has been rendered into Persian by Saber Hosseini.

“Leyla’s House” is about the final living member of an old Ottoman family, who is forced to leave her house in which she lived for 76 years of her life.

The house is a small building situated at one corner of the garden of Bosnali Yalisi, an old Istanbul mansion that once belonged to her own family. 

Roxy is a third-generation migrant who grew up in Germany and became a hip-hop singer. During her youth, she was torn between two cultures and she had serious problems of belonging and identity. She had survived but only at the expense of turning out to be a difficult, hardened person.

Indeed, it isn’t only Roxy who is changing, Leyla is changing too. As the two women get to know each other, they discover new sides to themselves and they both mature.

The new owners of the garden are Omer Cevheroglu and his wife Necla who are among the new rich of Istanbul. Omer’s father Ali Yekta Bey is another key character in the novel. Towards the end of the novel, the paths of Leyla and Ali Yekta cross and the events take an unexpected turn.

Speaking to the Persian service of Honaronline, Hosseini said that what encouraged him to translate the book into Persian was that he wanted the Iranian readers to become more familiar with Turkish writers who are less known in Iran and whose books have not been translated into Persian.

According to the Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah, a stage adaptation of the book was performed earlier to a full house for five years by director Tiyatro Kare.

Livaneli’s other novel “The Last Island” had previously been published in Persian by Negah Publications in Tehran. The book was translated into Persian by Ilnaz Hoquqi. 

“The Last Island” was written in 2008, but to a large extent, the story foreshadows the events and aftermath of Istanbul’s bloody Taksim Square political protests of 2013.

Photo: Front cover of the Persian translation of Zulfu Livaneli’s novel “Leyla’s House”.

RM/MMS/YAW