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Fiction

Disquiet

2017

Bestselling novel of 2017

Disquiet (2017)

Mercy is not an ointment for cruelty.

Disquiet transports the reader to the contemporary Middle East with a love story set against the recent atrocities committed by ISIS against the Yazidi people. Both a meditation on the nature of being human and an empathetic, probing look at the past and present reality of these lands of the Mesopotamian heritage, Disquiet is the groundbreaking first novel to tell of the experiences of the Yazidis fleeing ISIS to take refuge in Turkey.

Through the stories of Hussein from Mardin and the Yazidi girl, Meleknaz from Iraq, Disquiet gives a voice to the peoples, faiths, histories, and stories that have swept through this region over centuries.

  • Sales850,000 copies sold in Turkey

Praise

“A wonderful narrative. I enjoyed reading Disquiet very much.”

Pascal Bruckner, French writer and philosopher

“Livaneli imagines humanity as a union of the past and present, the human and the inhumane, of love and hate, of cruelty and compassion.”

Prof. Onur Bilge Kula, Cumhuriyet Literary Supplement

“Perhaps none of these books dwells more on futility than Zülfü Livaneli's seductive noir, Disquiet.”

Michael Lapointe, The Times Literary Supplement

“I read Livaneli’s novel, Disquiet, in an instant without taking a breath. I loved his poetic prose, the fluidity of his narrative, his synthesis of the East and West, the myths and tales within the stories, and the blend of reality with imagination. I learned a lot while reading, especially about the Yazidis.”

Zeynep Oral, former President of PEN Turkey

“Turkey’s most read writer is Ömer Zülfü Livaneli. His latest novel, Disquiet, came out this week and has sold 300,000 copies, even though its commercial posters were banned. He is also the country’s most famous songwriter and composer whose songs were sung by the protesters at Taksim Square. Last year, two of his bronze statues were erected; one’s inscription said, ‘Conscience is my compass’.”

Per Westberg, Svenska Dagbladet (January 2017)