The Renovation

Kenan Orhan's debut novel follows Dilara, a Turkish exile living in Italy, who discovers her renovated bathroom has become a magical rendition of Salivri Prison; the surreal transformation forces her and her family to confront memories, political displacement, and the demands of caregiving for an ailing father.

The book blends political commentary on authoritarianism in Turkey with intimate portrayals of dementia and family obligations, using the prison as both literal and metaphorical space.

Orhan draws on personal experience and family history, particularly memories tied to Istanbul and his grandmother's early signs of memory loss.

Themes of huzun — a melancholic longing for a lost homeland — and the impossibility of returning to a past Turkey permeate the narrative.

The novel mixes realism with magical-surreal elements to examine how personal and political pasts imprison and define the present.