Thanks to Penguin Books UK and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a book of two parts. In Part 1, Tequila Leila, a Turkish prostitute has been murdered and thrown into a dumpster. It takes 10 minutes and 38 seconds for the last remnants of her consciousness to fade away. In this short amount of time, she reflects upon her time on this earth and those she shared her life with.

In Part 2, Leila’s friends mourn her death and go to desperate lengths to ensure she gets the send off she deserves.

There’s lots of things about this book that make it really great. The writing is beautiful and rich and I’ll definitely be reading some of the author’s other works. The sights, smells and sounds of the novel’s Istanbul setting are captured perfectly (you WILL get hungry reading this book) from the historic neighbourhoods to the seedy underbelly of the modern city. The rich and diverse culture and people who live and work are personified in Leila’s motley crew of friends and acquaintances, and it is these relationships which form the beating heart of the story.

There are some tough themes in here, child sexual abuse, transphobia, discrimination and violence against sex workers, dehumanisation of refugees amongst others. Nothing ever feels sensationalised however, these are simply the issues that the characters face in their daily lives.

Despite all this, this is a beautiful novel about friendship and love and a woman who despite everything, forged her own path in life.

‘Tequila Leila’. Soon after her birth, she was given away by her father to her step-mother who couldn’t conceive a child. Resilient, brave and beautiful Leyla, lost to be world only because of a father who wouldn’t take responsibility for his mistake and when he did, he only pushed her further away.

Leyla is now dead. Thrown in a dumpster where her corpse is rotting, she awaits discovery. But for a prostitute in Istanbul, life comes with limited privileges and favors, and Leyla seems to have used it all.

It takes 10 minutes and 38 seconds for her soul to disappear into thin air and she uses this time to remember her past. Every sad memory and every happy event- be it her birth, her unique friends, her life as a proud prostitute (you’ll know about it eventually) and her wedding.

‘Tequila Leila’ had five friends in this mortal world- Nostalgia Nalan, Sabotage Sinan, Zaynab122, Holywood Humeira, and Jameela. And these are the people who stuck to her until the very end. They all have different lives and struggles in Istanbul but their loyalty and love toward Leyla are one of a kind.

“Istanbul was an illusion. A Magician’s trick gone wrong. Istanbul was a dream that existed solely in the middle of hashish eaters. In truth, there was no Istanbul. There were multiple Istanbul’s- struggling, competing, clashing, each perceiving that. in the end, only one could survive.

Amidst all this is Istanbul- a city that sustains them and is privy to numerous injustices, uprisings, revolutions, and death. Be it the prostitutes, the roads and the houses, or the Cemetery of the Companionless, everything has a story and a sad one at that. This story is an emotional journey but it is also very informative and diverse.

’10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World’ is a big picture in itself, comprising of struggles, abuse and misuse of religion. There is no safety in this city and that is the way of life here. The rich survive while the ones who are different are forced to live under unsuitable conditions, abandoned by their family and not accepted by the world either. And that’s how these souls are drawn towards each other- lost and empty but holding on.

When I started reading this book, I felt like I was welcoming an old friend.
This book is heartbreakingly beautiful and so much like Shafak's earlier work.
Tequila Leila is dead in a waste bin, but she is dying slowly, and going to past in every minute. Her past is everything that is wrong in Turkey today. The suppression of the woman, the stubbornness of the traditions. It's really a sad read, and has some trigger warnings, but it is an amazing novel which is written by undoubtedly one of the finest novelists from the east of Europe.

I was very excited to read this book because I have loved Elif Shafak ever since I read Three Daughters of Eve.

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World focuses on the life of Leila. When the reader is first introduced to her, she has just been murdered and her body is lying in a dumpster. Leila is aware she is dead but in the last 10 minutes and 38 seconds before her body shuts down completely, she has flashbacks to significant moments in her life.

“Her name was Leila.

Tequila Leila, as she was known to her friends and clients. Tequila Leila as she was called at home and at work, in that rosewood coloured house on a cobblestoned cul-de-sac down by the wharf, nestled between a church and a synagogue, among lamp shops and kebab shops – the street that harboured the oldest licensed brothels in Istanbul.”

There is a unique feel about Shafak’s writing, something that exists with few other authors. I can’t quite describe what I mean but it is definitely a positive thing.

“She now realised with a sinking feeling that her heart had just stopped beating, and her had abruptly ceased, and whichever way she looked at her situation there was no denying that she was dead.”

In life Leila was clearly quite a witty character, one of the ways this is illustrated is in the naming of her cat.

“Her cat was stone deaf…she had named him Mr Chaplin, after Charlie Chaplin, for, just like the heroes of early cinema, he lived in a silent world of his own.”

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World shows the reader glimpses of a different Istanbul than the one that is well publicised.

“The Istanbul that Leila had known was not the Istanbul that the Ministry of Tourism would have wanted foreigners to see.”

Through the life of Leila and her best friends, otherwise known as ‘The Five’, we see multiple seedier and more disturbing sides to the city. Each of her friends is partially based on real people and the Cemetery for the Companionless is very much real.

The book not only shares Leila’s life story but also that of the members of The Five- Sabotage Sinan, Nostalgia Nalan, Jameelah, Zaynab 122 and Hollywood Humeyra.

For me the passages detailing the circumstances of her birth and her childhood were some of the most interesting. Leila was born to her father’s second wife but raised by his first and in ignorance over who was her real mother.

“And so it was that the baby girl, born to a family of one husband and two wives on January 1944, in the city of Van – ‘the Pearl of the East’ – was named Leyla Afife Kamile. Such self-assured names, grandiose and unambiguous. Big mistakes as it would turn out. For while it was true that she carried the night in her eyes, befitting the name Leyla, it would soon become clear that her middle names were far from apt. She wasn’t flawless, even to begin with; her many shortcomings ran through her life like underground streams. In truth she was a walking embodiment of imperfection – once she figured out how to walk, that is. And as for staying chaste, time would show how, for reasons not of her own doing, that would not exactly be her thing either.”

There were elements of the book which were quite disturbing and hard to read, things hinted at in the passage above and which I will not detail as I don’t wish to include any spoilers in my review. However, they are well written and sensitively handled.

This book is a real gem.

An unusual and often compelling novel written from the perspective of Leila who has died and is reviewing her life and the friends who are keeping her memory alive.
Leila works as a prostitute but her life did not begin this way. From an usual childhood we find out how her life steadily takes a downward spiral into chaos and cruelty.
This is not only a book about a woman's trauma but also about the small delights that Leila finds in life including some quirky friends.
I found this book a compelling but also difficult read and at time i put it down for awhile and came back to it again at a later stage. The writing is poetic and gifted...the author Elif Shafak certainly knows how to write... and it all flowed beautifully. There are moments of joy and friendship aswell as the difficult life depicted and i am sure this will become a popular choice for readers out there.

I read many books of Elif Shafak, and this one is definitely up for the favourite spot. I LOVED it!
First of all, the idea behind the plot is very interesting. The writing is just so beautiful, so well thought & constructed. Every sentence is something to read carefully. I devoured this book!
Also the fact that this book is centered around Istanbul (my city that I lived most of my life) is so charming. She did a superb job of describing the city as it deserves.
LOVED it, can't recommend enough. I hope I see it in Women's Prize For Fiction list next year.
Thanks a lot NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

What a wonderful story and book.
I really enjoyed this story and coming from a country very close to Turkey, I always heard stories about Istanbul and its wonders.
The story is about friends that will celebrate their belated friend through her letters and we get to read and feel everything that Turkey has to offer, from good to bad things.
The first part is told by Leila’s memory and her point of view about her experience and life experience. The second part is told by her friends and what they lived along Leila and how they remember her.
A beautiful written story about life, love, politics, beliefs, family and friends.
Everyone should read this great book.

An unvarnished love letter to the city of Istanbul, as narrated by a dead prostitute and her best friends, 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World is a truly life-affirming joy. The take-away that sticks in your mind is 'dead prostitute', I get that. It is unusual but such a brilliant premise and much better than you may expect. Genius, in fact.

This rich novel is full of memories from Leila's life, generated in random snapshots by her dead brain in the minutes following her death. A sumptuous read that describes key events in Leila's life and how she reached her untimely demise. There are countless joyful, and painful, moments that make up the tapestry of her existence and we take a leisurely look at many. The beauty in which her unorthodox tale is told makes this a book you will be loath to put down. If you don't read it in record time, I will be shocked. I couldn't part with it any longer than necessary and even made time to read it during the day, something I don't often do.

One striking and ever present character throughout this novel is the charismatic and fluid city of Istanbul. This bewitching tale is a warts and all homage to a city of refuge for Leila and her friends. Though this is a fictional account, the splendor of Istanbul, and the moments in history that shaped her, shines through to add a lovely depth to this novel. 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World is a compelling, savory read for all the senses and emotions too. It was an honor to read it and experience Istanbul with Leila.

Critically-acclaimed Turkish writer Elif Shafak writes about topics close to her heart — immigration and being in an ethnic minority group at a time when race relations are heating up again surrounding Brexit. Her characters are strong women who know their own mind and come from diverse, multicultural backgrounds. Set against the backdrop of bustling, humid Istanbul, the title refers to the length of time lady of the night Leila's brain continues to operate despite being dead and dumped like trash. One of my favourite aspects was how rich and vivid the Middle Eastern setting was with its sights, scents and sounds floating around the city and bringing it beautifully to life, including the local traditions and the fascinating culture.

Written in an exquisite fashion, Shafak infuses the story with characters who are multidimensional and interesting. The first half explores dead girl Leila's life and times and her loves and hates and the second half is narrated by five of her friends who tell her life story from their perspective — the comparison of the two is very interesting. It's a novel about the importance of love, compassion, selflessness, family, friendship, politics, history and humanity and the potent mix of these within these pages is great. The evocative atmosphere and deceptively dark parts of the story created a palpable tension, and it's a vibrant place, alive with sound and colour. I will be keeping my eyes open for more from Ms Shafak for sure. Many thanks to Viking for an ARC.

This is a gem of a book which was a pleasure to read. It is about friendship and love and family. This story tells beautifully the story of Leila and her 5 friends and their lives. It questions what exactly a family is and how not everyone is treated equally.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

An unusual, somewhat quirky story woven with dark humour and a mystical undertone. A story of death, destitution, love and friendship all set on a backdrop of the sights and sounds of Istanbul. Clever, brave and vibrant in its delivery. Overall, I really enjoyed this book although some parts I enjoyed more than others. In particular, I loved the 'five friends'; all zany characters which Shafak has brought to life within its pages.

Many thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this ARC for which I have given my voluntary and unbiased review.

I received this book as an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This is an extraordinarily intimate novel that I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I finished it. This is another important story by Elif Shafak about women's issues, politics and family. The colourful cast of characters is what makes this book and although I much prefer Part One of this book in which we follow Leila's life, following her friends after her death was inspired. We feel the loss of Leila like the family she created feels it.
The depth and breadth to which 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World explores aspects of femininity in Istanbul is breath-taking. This is a remarkable book which I plan to reread again very soon.
Overall, I loved it.
READ THIS BOOK

There is a defining moment in every friendship when you should ask yourself, "would this person help me bury a body?" If the answer is no, the person will stumble back to being merely an acquaintance or somebody-that-you-use-to-know. However, if the answer is yes, you've got a friendship and camaraderie that will endure the sands of time.

For Tequila Leila to have found 5 such friends makes for a remarkable tale. While the story of Leila's life and last moments is a beautifully written, poignant, heartwarming and heartbreaking tale, it is the story of these 5 friendships which will linger in your memory long after you have finished reading the last page. These characters are bloody marvelous. Squad goals!

Tequila Leila was a prostitute in Istanbul. One night she is murdered, her body dumped in a metal rubbish bin. As her consciousness ebbs away, in her final 10 minutes and 38 seconds, Leila remembers her life in snapshots. People she has known and loved and been loved by, and some she was not so fond of. She also recalls smells and tastes associated with certain important memories. A lot of her memories involve her five best friends in Istanbul, a group of 'misfits', some may say, but all wonderful characters.

This is a beautiful, bittersweet story about love and friendship, with some religious and political undertones and wonderful descriptions of Istanbul, some of it quite dark. A very good read.

In this novel we follow the last 10 minutes and 38 seconds of prostitute Tequila Leila’s death. Each minute brings a new remembrance through the tastes and smells associated with Turkish life. Woven within these intense memories are Leila’s group of very different friends who, like her, are all outcasts. Friends who are not likely to forget her no matter what.

10 minutes 38 seconds is a joyful riot of a book, which might be a strange thing to say because it is obvious from the get-go how the novel will end with regards to Leyla Afife Kamile Akarsu (or Tequila Leila), for whom it would appear life has been less than fair.

But this novel is not so much a tale of woe and death as a celebration of Leila’s colourful life, and the wonders of a woman who formed the hub of several close friends. Together this group of outcasts (made so for very different reasons) form a warm and loving community in a place as vibrant and colourful as this story. I became attached to every one of them and it is difficult to pick out a favourite in the group because each of their unique characters had something interesting to offer a reader. It was wonderful being a fly on the wall of their backstories and supportive interactions.

Elif Shafak covers a great deal of ground in terms of breadth of this story, which is as generous as its main protagonist in the richness of the world she experiences and creates around her, despite her misfortunes. We start in Leila’s childhood rural home then move to Istanbul.

There were many sad moments, but also many that had me laughing out loud, particularly towards the end.

10 Minutes brought to life the smells, sounds and customs of Turkish life, as well as how Leila and all her misfit friends lived within it.

I really enjoyed my immersion into Istanbul and the key historical events through which this larger than life fictional character lived. As a result of reading this book I spent a great deal of time online looking these events up. Now I have become much better acquainted with some of Istanbul’s recent history and want to find out more.

An absolutely fascinating premise on which to base a book; which wonderfully fleshed out the history, characters and friendships that made up Leila's life

This book by Turkish writer Elif Shafak seemingly opens as a crime novel. Leila who works in the sex trade will go out to meet a client and her body will be found in a bin shortly after. But as it is a novel about realities – from varying perspectives – the tale of Leila will be used to confront the views around her - official and unofficial, between family and friends and between friends and friends. All of this is presented by the author who is a consummate story teller, always fully focused on her people (often women). And we mustn’t forget that this is an author under threat of the bullet for her insistence on detailing the real realities of life in Turkey, not the polished version. Expect the brilliantly detailed placing of her characters in their place, both geographical and historical – Istanbul is also one of the (not so secret) characters in this novel.
It has been suggested that a person’s brain could have up to 10 minutes and 38 seconds of continuing consciousness after death. Over this period Leila’s life will pass before her eyes after death and key moments of passage in her life will be presented. They tell how she reached her life – early 40s, sex worker in Istanbul – from her childhood in a city elsewhere in a seemingly wealthy and respectable family. But, central to her new life will be the five friends who she will encounter en route to her present. All of whom have drifted to Istanbul from elsewhere, often amidst personal difficulties.
What an interesting group. They are not always in total accord with each other either by temperament, background or religion. But they come together around Leila and their joint life in Istanbul. All give the others succour, support, companionship and value to cope with their, not always easy, lives there. An even wider circle of linked characters are treated sympathetically while being viewed with an eagle eye.
Even when dead, bureaucratic life for Leila will take over. In the absence of family, and with friends of no legal account, Leila’s body will be transferred after post mortem for a common burial in the “Cemetery of the Companionless”. Her five friends regard this as a major travesty of the truth, she is not companionless. They will try and remove her body for re-burial somewhere more appropriate, a place that reflects the love she had and gave. Needless to say, this will be not entirely easy to accomplish.
This is a novel that develops subtly revealing layer after layer of information about people and place, so no further descriptions can be given without acting as spoiler to both the flow and the nuances of the tale. But this is another first rate novel. Many readers will buy it on the author’s name alone, but for others (and book groups) this is an excellent read in style, content and quietly introduced issues and impacts at the personal level.

This was ok, I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I might, but it was a quick read and did find it interesting at times. The actual premise was really up my street but I found I has to push myself to finish it.

My book group recently read Three Daughters of Eve which was the first Elif Shafak book I had read and I was keen to read this one (thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a review copy).
I love the way that the novels give insight into the way life is lived in Turkey, the descriptions of the places and everyday detail are evocative and I feel I have much more appreciation of the country and the people.
The opening is strong and I very much enjoyed reading about the central character, Leila, and her five friends - though I would have liked more about their lives which were tantalisingly interesting. I will look out for more books by this author.

Elif Shafak delivers another important piece of fiction grounded in real events that deeply affected a nation's stability. Told through the eyes of Leila and her five friends, '10 minutes...' is an irresistible read that has all the elements of a classic- love, family, friendship, politics and history but most importantly humanity which is at the heart of all of Shafak's novels.