Beside Myself
ABOUT
THE BOOK
Beside Myself is the disturbing and exhilarating story of a family across four generations. At its heart is one woman’s search for her twin brother. When Anton goes missing and the only clue is a postcard sent from Istanbul, Alissa leaves her life in Berlin to find him. Without her twin, the sharer of her memories and the mirror of her own self, Ali is lost. In a city steeped in political and social changes, where you can buy gender-changing drugs on the street, Ali’s search—for her missing brother, for her identity—will take her on a journey for connection and belonging. Beside Myself is a brilliant literary debut about belonging, about family and love, and about the enigmatic nature of identity.
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
In this brilliant novel, the main character is looking for her twin brother, simultaneously traversing torn Istanbul and travelling across memories of four generations of her family. The shattering of her own identity and her sense of belonging goes hand in hand with the brokenness of the city as well as her memory. Also remarkable is the language of the novel which lets the text shine bright and leave a deep impression on the reader.