Book cover of Turkish Awakening: A Personal Discovery of Modern Turkey

Book description

Born in London to a Turkish mother and British father, Alev Scott moved to Istanbul to discover what it means to be Turkish in a country going through rapid political and social change, with an extraordinary past still linked to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and an ever more surprising present under…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Turkish Awakening as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Turkish Awakening is the result of Alev Scott’s desire to discover the land of her mother’s birth and explore contemporary Turkish life and politics. Scott combines personal insights with an objective gaze to focus on a confusing and often contradictory culture, to try to unravel the complex relationships between modernity and religion unfolding in Turkey today. She chats with taxi drivers, examines how sex work and transgender inhabitants coexist, sometimes uneasily, next door to conservative Muslims recently relocated from the country, and explores the impact of popular soap operas featuring the newly rich on the aspirations of ordinary Turks and…

If you love Turkish Awakening...

Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

Want books like Turkish Awakening?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Turkish Awakening.

Browse books like Turkish Awakening

Book cover of Dinner of Herbs: Village Life in 1960s Turkey
Book cover of Dervish: Travels in Modern Turkey
Book cover of The Forbidden Modern: Civilization and Veiling

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,298

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like Turkish Awakening, you might also like...

Book cover of Karl's War

Karl's War by Neil Spark,

Karl's War is a coming-of-age-meets-thriller set in Germany on the eve of Hitler coming to power. Karl – a reluctant poster boy for the Nazis – meets Jewish Ben and his world is up-turned.

Ben and his family flee to France. Karl joins the German army but deserts and finds…

Book cover of Girl in the Ashes

Girl in the Ashes by Douglas Weissman,

Odette Lefebvre is a serial killer stalking the shadows of Nazi-occupied Paris and must confront both the evils of those she murders and the darkness of her own past.

This young woman's childhood trauma shapes her complex journey through World War II France, where she walks a razor's edge…

5 book lists we think you will like!